The Mojave Heathen by Robert F. Clifton (book recommendations website txt) 📕

“We can’t possibly go near the body. Not while we’re under surveillance,” said Edith

“You’re right of course. Still, I have to know that the dinosauroid is safe. I’m not as concerned about the government as I am about a power failure and the humidity rising in the

storage unit. One thing the body doesn’t need after over a hundred years in desert like conditions is humidity. I have to get to the unit and make sure that it safe.,” said Ben.

Edith stood silently for a moment. “I think our best bet is to bring the body here. It’s only slightly over three feet in length. If it’s here we can control the temperature and humidity in the house,” she said.

“I agree, but you forget one thing?”

“What’s that?”

“The odor of moon dust.”

“There has to be something that covers that smell,” said Edith.

“There probably is, but will it damage the specimen?”

“ Let’s see, it was buried when you found it and you only detected the smell of spent gun powder after you uncovered it. Right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we can’t bury it in the backyard. Climate conditions are much different here than in Death Valley.”

“ The only solution I can think of is to place it in the walk in closet in the spare bedroom. The closet is Climate controlled. That takes care of the problem of any humidity. When it comes to the smell, we’ll just have to mask it with whatever is on the market that will do the job,” said Ben

Chapter Eight

Steven Bennett

Special Agent Steven Bennett wasn’t just angry. He was furious. As he looked at the Agent standing in front of his desk

he not only wanted to chastise the man he wanted get up and beat the hell out of him. “One man! One man! One man who had the responsibility to watch the house where two people this agency is investigating fell asleep. Not only did he fall asleep, but woke just in time to see the garage door of Edith Shipley’s house closing. Now, since you’re charged with the responsibility of the assignment of keeping the two scientist’s under surveillance, I’ll ask you. Who was in the car? Where did they go? What did they do? Tell me! Answer me if you can!”

“I can’t sir,” said the Agent.

“You can’t? You bet your ass you can’t.”

“All I can say sir is that I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Oh, you’re right about that. The shit head that fell asleep is going to be fired. You, due to your incompetence is suspended without pay for two weeks and after that you’ll be reassigned. I don’t know where as yet, but you can bet where you’re going you’ll be looking for UFO evidence in either one of the Arctic Poles, or the Amazon rain forest. Now, get out of my sight!”.

After the Agent left his office Bennett reached for the red telephone on his desk. He lifted the receiver and pushed three numbers. There were three rings and his call was answered.

“Yes?”, came a voice.

“ I have taken punitive action on the two agents involved sir,” said Bennett.

“I see, but that doesn’t solve the problem, does it?”

“No sir.”

“Then, may I ask, how do you intend to solve the problem?”

“I will conduct this investigation my self.”

“Excellent. Then, I expect this matter to be finished in the immediate future. Am I correct?”

“Yes sir.”

All Bennett heard after those words was a loud CLICK!

***********

Two days later, Ben stood in the living room looking through the Venetian blinds at the house across the street. Edith!” he called.

“What is it?”

“It appears as though our neighbors are moving and are being replaced by their, let’s call them relatives.”

“Really, good riddance, I say.”

“ No. If I had a choice I’d want them across the street. At least when they were there I knew what they were doing. Now, it becomes a different ballgame.”

“Any problems with the one that’s sharing the spare bedroom?, asked Edith.

“No. Since we soaked a bath towel in vinegar and hung it in the closet where our guest now resides, the odor of spent gun powder is just about difficult to detect.”

“Excellent. I was followed when I went to the market this morning,” said Edith.

“Are you sure?”

“Certainly. I saw a blue sedan when I looked in my rear view mirror. The same automobile pulled into the parking lot, parked, but no one got out.”

“Did you see who was driving?”

“No. The car had very dark, tinted windows.”

“OK. The fact that they’re still watching us doesn’t surprise me.” said Ben.

“But why? What did we do that was so wrong?”

“ We discovered something that they didn’t want discovered. Now that we have it they want it. The difference between them and us is we want want to study the alien. They want to either hide it or destroy it.”

“Then what should we do?,’ asked Edith.

“I’ve been thinking. I believe the best thing is to study it while we can. We’ll take photographs, list everything we find about it. Then, should we have to give up the specimen at least we’ll have something to give to the scientific community.”, said Ben.

“I agree. Let’s do it. We can work in the garage.”

“Fine, all we have to do is cover the window in the side door.”

*************

George Bingham leaning over the toilet was finally finished vomiting. He was weak, unable to keep any food that he was able to eat stay down in his stomach. He had lost weight. Now. When he combed his hair strands of it stuck in the comb and when he looked in the bathroom mirror he thought that his eyebrows were thinning. “What’s wrong with me? The medication the doctor prescribed is doing absolutely nothing. I need help. Time to bring in nurses. I’ll call and set it up. But, first I must rest. Must get back to the bed,” he thought to himself.

Back at Edith’s house. Ben Cortland dipped a paint brush into a quart can of black paint. Then used it to coat the garage, side door window. When that job was finished he cleared the work bench of tools and cartons of nails, creating enough space for a place to put the alien. When that was done he went to the bedroom closet, picked up the wooden tool box holding the body and carried it to the garage. Edith followed him.

After putting on latex gloves and surgical masks the couple were ready to begin their examination. Ben opened the tool box

and tried to ignore the odor of the moon dust. Carefully lifting the remains he laid it on the work bench then turned and closed the box. “Move that out of our way,” he said the Edith.

“What are you going to look for first?”, she asked.

“A belly button. Russell’s theory is that a dinosauroid would have to had an umbilical cord in order for its brain to grow.”

“And, does it have one?”, asked Edith

“I don’t see one, but keep in mind this torso is mummified. The skin is dark and dry. Hello? What’s this? Ah, a dimple of sorts. Off hand I’d say our heathen here does in fact have the scar left by an umbilical cord,’ said Ben.

“What’s next?”

“The genitalia. Let’s see if what we’re looking at is a Mr. or Miss.”

“How are you going to do that?.” asked Edith.

“Assuming that this is indeed a dinosauroid then it should be like any large reptile, in that the genitalia is located inside a vent. I watched a veterinarian one time work on an alligator. Watch. You place your fingers inside the vent, like this. Then you feel for a penis. You find one, naturally it’s a male.”

“Do you feel anything?”

“Yes, but like the rest of it, it’s mummified.”

“Then the alien is a male.” said Edith.

“I’d say yes.”

“Now what?”. Asked Edith.

“Now, we put it back in the box and back in the closet.”

***********

Steven Bennett answered the ringing, red telephone. “Yes Sir,” he said.

“Report.”

“Surveillance has resumed on the archeologist and her friend, Doctor Cortland. To date, there hasn’t been too much activity. Doctor Shipley is the only one that actually leaves the house in the daylight hours. We are monitoring all incoming and out going telephone calls and taping the conversations. So far nothing has been mentioned about what we’re interested in seeing and taking.”

“I see. What about the physicist?”

“Doctor Ross? Nothing sir. Since leaving Death Valley he has had no contact with either Shipley or Cortland.”

“Did you receive all the information garnered by the Air Force?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright, keep me informed.” CLICK!

At 0230 hours, Steven Bennett arrived at 1417 Beach Avenue. As the Director of the Commission For Study Of Extraterrestrial Phenomenon he had decided to lead this latest investigation himself. Bennett was a tall man. At forty years old he had a masters degree in astrophysics and had joined the Commission ten years ago as an investigator. Project Blue Book had two objectives, to: Determine if UFO’s were a threat to National Security. And: to scientifically analyze UFO-related data. Officially, the United States Air Force was given the task

to investigate and evaluate UFO activity. Unofficially, when blue book was closed, the Commission For The Study Of Extraterrestrial Phenomenon had been created and the knowledge of its creation kept from the American and world populace.

Bennett, at six foot four inches tall and weighing two hundred and twenty five pounds had the muscular build of an NFL linebacker. With blue eyes and dark wavy hair, but gray at the temples he was both handsome and intelligent, very intelligent.

After entering the house where his agents had been conducting a surveillance Bennett looked at the agents assigned.

Well? Which one of you has something new to report?,” he asked.

No one answered.

“That figures. No one knows anything. I see by the looks of the dining room table all of you have been eating well. I also see that all of you are a bunch of slobs. Somebody better get off of their ass and clean this place up since I’m the one that now will be working here. Pizza boxes, empty beer cans, three of you with out a shirt, a deck of cards on the end table. Very professional. The lot of you wouldn’t make a pimple on a good agents ass. Now, one of you better start talking and give me an update on the two professors across the street.”

“Actually sir, nothings has been happening across the street. Professor Cortland only appears each morning at about seven thirty. He comes out of the house walks down the driveway. Picks up the morning newspaper then goes back inside. We don’t see him for the rest of the day, said an agent.

“What about the woman?”, asked Bennett.

“She goes to the university Monday thru Friday. Saturdays she goes to the market, shops for groceries and goes home.”

“Sunday?” asked Bennett.

“Nothing, no signs of her.”

“What about visitors, in particular any members of the intelligentsia, namely Doctor William Ross or the businessman,

George Bingham?,” asked Bennett.

“Nothing, no one. The only people who have even gone near the house is the meter readers for the gas and electric company.”

“Strange. Before I flew out here our agents watching Bingham reported that nurses have been attending to him around the clock. Right now we’re trying to ascertain what’s he being treated for and why does he require constant nursing” said Bennett.

**************

At the breakfast able the next morning Edith took a sip of hot coffee then said, “What do you intend to do next with the specimen?”

“I don’t know. Basically we’ve proved Russell’s theory of the dinosauroid. It did or possibly does exist. The problem with research on the alien is the need to protect him. It takes away time that we could be using for study.”

“It’s a shame that it’s mummified. Imagine what his brain would look like and what we could determine if we could see it,” said Edith.

“It would probably look like ours. The difference is that it would have the ability to use parts of it’s brain to