The Watchers by Ruth Ann Nordin Read Free Book Online

up.”
    It was a half-hearted joke, and Devon
didn’t bother laughing as if he was amused. There was nothing funny
about any of this, but what could he do? He needed to obey
orders.
    He entered the bathroom and shut the
door. The running water masked some of what his boss said, but his
boss would be giving him the usual spiel about how he was doing
what was best for the country. Devon set the shampoo on the counter
by the sink and waited until his boss was done before he thanked
him and hung up.
    Then he retrieved his second cell
phone which was strapped to the underside of his sink and dialed
his doctor’s number.
    Dr. Raymond picked up on the third
ring. “Devon, did they call you in again?”
    Wiping his sweaty palms on his towel,
he said, “Yes. At 3pm.”
    “ I’ll come by your house
Thursday night at ten and we’ll take care of it.”
    “ Thank you.” He hung up the
phone. There. Dr. Raymond would remove the implant, and Devon would
know what the government planned to do to him this time.

    ***

    Right at 3pm, two men in military
uniforms led Devon to the second level of the Dulce underground
base. He stripped and was weighed before he slipped into an
off-white jump suit and picked up his identification card. He
didn’t speak as the men walked him to a shuttle. The tunnel was dim
with only phosphorous units which cast a yellow hue over the
cavern.
    He wasn’t supposed to remember being
here, so he refrained from getting on the shuttle until instructed.
He sat next to the man operating the vehicle.
    “ Card?”
    He presented the card which the man
scanned. Then Devon pressed his hand to the scanner to verify he
had the right to carry the card.
    Satisfied, the man nodded and shifted
the shuttle into drive. “You’re due for level four.”
    Devon closed his eyes in relief. Not
that level four would be pleasant, but it beat level six, which was
termed “Nightmare Hall” for good reason.
    No one spoke during the ride through
the second level. When the shuttle stopped at the elevator, Devon
got out. As if on cue, the doors opened and the alien masquerading
as the blond woman in a blue jump suit waved him in. He hesitated,
briefly recalling the way Vanessa responded to her. Vanessa had
every right to shy away from the blond. He knew what her being here
meant, and he knew the blond took a twisted delight in playing cat
and mouse with him.
    “ Come on in, silly. I don’t
bite.” She giggled and reached out to take him by the
hand.
    His skin crawled at the contact.
Before she could deduct that he remembered her, he removed his hand
from hers, entered the elevator and stood at the other end of the
small space.
    “ You don’t remember me, do
you?”
    He shook his head. “Am I supposed
to?”
    Giggling again, she shrugged. “I guess
not.” She winked at him before she pressed the number
four.
    The elevator doors hissed and the
elevator gave a low hum as it went down.
    He closed his eyes for a moment and
focused on his breathing. She could pick up on fear, and the last
thing he wanted to do was give her anymore power over him than she
would have once they strapped him to the table.
    When he opened his eyes, he caught her
staring at him. For a moment her eyes flickered, and he blinked.
He’d never seen her in her true form, but he knew she wasn’t an
alien grey. Reptoid, perhaps? He’d heard Reptoid aliens lived at
level 5 and who-knew-what lived at level 7 on down.
    After all he’d seen and heard, he
wouldn’t be surprised if they really did exist. He might be privy
to more information than the average person, but he wasn’t that
high up the chain. So many things were going on behind the scenes.
That woman he caught sneaking into the Bismarck capitol had no idea
what she was tapping into, and if she was smart, she’d finally back
off because if she didn’t, it was just a matter of time before they
came after her.
    The doors hissed open and a white
corridor came into view. The blond got out of the