Shady Oaks Read online

  Shady Oaks

  By

  Jerry Boyd

  This book is a work of fiction. All the people, events, and organizations in this book are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to anything in the real world is purely coincidental

  Copyright©2019 Jerry Boyd

  All rights reserved.

  This book may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, whole or in part, by any means whatsoever without prior written consent of the author and publisher.

  Dedicated to my long suffering wife, Donna, and my beta readers, Bernard, Karen, Mary, and James.

  My comm rang in the middle of the night. It was hard to reach with Nikki lying on my arm. I answered, “Bob Wilson.”

  John, my partner, said, “Wake up, Beeping Slooty, it’s time to earn your cape again.”

  “What’s up, John?”

  “You are, finally. Grab the boys and whoever else is handy and get over here. We’ve got a retrieval that needs to be flown ass-ape.”

  “On my way, John.”

  I grabbed my flight suit while trying to wake Nikki, and dial my comm. Topper, my head of maintenance, answered. “What do you need, Boss?”

  “Grab whatever you might need for a saucer retrieval and come get in the truck. We’re leaving for John’s shortly.”

  “On it, Boss.”

  Next I dialed Nikki’s Grandpa, Dingus. “I’m retired, you pissant. This better be good!”

  “Dingus, we’ve got a retrieval that needs to get done asap. Can you meet me at the truck?”

  “Sure. You know any more?”

  “Nope. John didn’t say.”

  “On my way.”

  Nikki finally roused up. “What now, Caveman?”

  “Got a rescue. You coming?”

  She was up and dressed in record time. Snitz, our dog, followed us to the truck, and jumped in the back with the boys. Dingus, and his fiance Dee, met us at the truck. Dee said, “Nikki, get in the car with me. The guys can bring Bob’s truck.” I think she just wanted an excuse to drive her new car. Her taillights were fading in the distance by the time I got my truck on the road. I said, “She loves that Chevelle!”

  Dingus replied, “She sure does. You and those bots did a good thing building it for her.”

  “Can you call John and see if he knows anything else yet?”

  Dingus got out his comm and dialed. He put it on speaker. “John, this is Dingus, we’re on our way. Do you know any more yet?”

  “Max is still talking to them, but what I’ve been able to gather is that they have airframe damage and are no longer spaceworthy. They’ve grounded in a remote location, and killed main power, but they seem to think that our government took a shot at them. I’ve got the freighter in the driveway with the loading ramp down. Nikki has the pilot’s chair, and Dee is saying Bob drives slower than her boy, William.”

  I spoke up. “Tell her I have a load on, and she doesn’t have to be nasty about it. We’re pulling in now.”

  I backed up to the ramp, and the boys unloaded the truck onboard. Dingus and I stayed out of the way, those three bots could handle it way faster without our help. Snitz was sniffing around, trying to help, he considers those bots his pack. When they finished, we all piled aboard and I hit the button to raise the ramp. I hit the intercom and said, “Go, Nikki!”

  We were airborne before I let off the button. I love my wife.

  John came into the cargo bay, and said, “These fellows are Guide, but they haven’t had your mods to their power core yet. You think the Government finally figured out about the ultrasound?”

  “Sounds like. I just hope they didn’t have help.”

  Dingus spoke up, “You think Major Rottum tipped them off?”

  “I hope not, but I don’t see how we can discard the possibility at this point. Either way, is there some kind of notice you can put out to stay away from this planet if you don’t have the quiet power mod?”

  “I’ll get right to it. Even if I am retired, a Guide colonel ought to get some notice.”

  Dingus worked with his comm. I asked John, “So where are they?”

  “Someplace in the Mojave. Max gave Nikki the exact coordinates.”

  “I just hope they didn’t try to hide in a cave, if their saucer is still noisy. This is gonna be bad enough, without a half ton of guano.”

  Nikki came over the intercom. “Get ready, we’re landing.” Taz put Snitz through a door and closed it behind him. He, Ozzie, and Topper formed up by the cargo ramp as it started down. I hit the intercom. “Nikki, tell them to stay aboard, we’ll load them saucer and all.”

  “Already done, Bob. Get them out and to the med bay as soon as you can. I’ve got an idea to keep the Air Force from looking for us.”

  “Okay, Space Cadet, I trust you, but be careful.”

  We three puny humans stayed out of the way, while the boys hefted the saucer aboard.

  The saucer had a nasty dent, with burn traces around it. When the boys put it down, the door opened. A voice called out in Galactic, “Help me, I can’t carry him.”

  I told the boys, “Secure it for maneuvering, then get out of the bay, I’m not sure what Nikki has planned.”

  I heard, “Yes, Boss!” behind me as I followed Dingus and John aboard. They went to the unconscious fellow, so I looked to see if I could help the lady who had spoken to us. She appeared to have a broken leg, so I gently picked her up and carried her out. I said, “Don’t tell my wife about this, I’ll be in trouble for weeks.” She laughed.

  The boys opened doors for me, and I laid her on the cot in the medbay. I figured John would decide which one of them needed the autodoc worse. I said, “I’m not the medic, he’ll be here as soon as he checks your partner. Anything you need?”

  “Better sense. We heard about the mod to quiet down the saucer, but we put it off.”

  “You always know what you should have done, after it’s too late. Can’t change the past.”

  John and Dingus came in with the fellow who was out cold. John said, “What’s she got, Bob?”

  “Seems to be coordinated and cogent. Only obvious damage is a broken leg, not a compound fracture, but not pretty, either.”

  “He needs the doc worse, then. Help us get him nekkid.”

  “That’s not something I ever hoped to hear.”

  We got him in the box, and John set it to fix him up. Then he turned his attention to the patient I had brought in. “My name is John, I’ll be your medic today. Do you have any conditions or allergies I should be aware of?”

  She looked a little confused, and then remembered where she was. “No, they fixed all that when I joined the Guide.”

  “How’s your pain?”

  “Not horrible, but not at all fun.”

  John got a couple of syringes, and drew different meds into them. He put a tourniquet on her arm, and said make a fist, please.” He found a vein, and gave the shots.

  “Wow! That feels better already. Say, you’re kinda cute, Mr. Medic.”

  John said, “Gotta love morphine. I gave her some Motrin, too, to loosen her up for the next part.”

  We waited a little bit, and I asked, “So where do I hold?”.

  John showed me what he wanted me to do, and I got a grip. John straightened her leg. “Ow! That hurt! Oh, it feels better now.”

  John splinted her leg. I said, “If you’ve got this, I’m gonna go see what Nikki’s cooked up.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll call if I need anything.”

  Dingus came with me to the cockpit. Dee was at copilot. We stood behind, trying to figure out the big plan. I noticed Nikki’s board looked like it had before when she remotely operated a saucer. I looked closer and saw that main power was on. I looked at Dee’s board. It showed us wandering towar
ds South America, just barely fast enough to stay ahead of the fighter planes behind us. One of them launched a missile. Dee moved to fire on it. Nikki said, “Wait, we have to make this look good. Hold, hold, shoot!”. Nikki hit a button on her board just as the missile detonated. I could see main power for the saucer go off. Nikki said, “Okay, Dee, alter course like we talked about.” Dee gently changed our line of flight. Unexpectedly, the fighters followed her turn. I got out my comm and called Topper. “Get the boys back in the bay. That saucer has a tracker. Find it and shut it down.”

  “On it, Boss.”

  Nikki said to Dee, “I am relieving you.”

  “Your ship, Nikki.”

  “Now for plan B.” She slowly brought the nose up, as if short of power. She was still barely staying ahead of the fighters, even though the ship could easily outdistance them. She got the nose pointed at the moon, and started climbing just as another missile launched. I got back on the comm to Topper. “Find it yet?”

  “Just getting to it now, Boss.”

  “Hold off on shutting it down for just a little bit. I’ll tell you when.”

  “Roger, Boss. We have hands on the device. Awaiting your mark.”

  Nikki was letting the missile gain on us again. I watched her finger poised over the fire button. When she twitched, I said, “Now, Topper!”.

  “Shut down, Boss. No further signals from this saucer.”

  “Good work boys.”

  The fighters peeled off. Nikki said, “Good thinking, there, Caveman. Now they believe they shot us down.”

  “You’ve got them thinking our base is on the Moon. That’s pretty sharp, too.”

  Dee said, “Alright, you two, get a room.”

  Nikki said, “Dee, take us home.”

  Dee replied, “My ship. Home it is.”

  I asked, “Can we drop off the saucer at the shop, so I can get the boys started on it?”

  Dee said, “Sure, Bob.”

  Dee settled the ship in front of the shop. The boys ran the door up and carried the saucer in. I said, “Scrounge what you need out of the barn, fellas. If you need something we don’t have on hand, let me know.”

  “Okay, Boss. Anything else we should do?”

  “Quiet down the power core and fix the teaching machine while we’ve got it in the shop. Give me an update when you find out how bad the damage is.”

  “Sure thing, Boss. Say, doesn’t Joanna need a car? We could help with that.”

  “Okay, boys, I’ll find you another car to build. Happy?”

  Taz did his signature spin and pant routine. “Ecstatic, Boss!”

  I climbed back aboard and closed the ramp. Soon as the ramp started up, we lifted. I asked, “So, John, Do we need to move the patient out of the ‘doc into the house?”

  “He would do better if we left him where he is till morning. I was going to put the female in the doc in the house. Just a bone repair shouldn’t take long, she’ll be out before we can move the other fella.”

  “Did you already tell Dee not to shut down when she parks this rig?”

  “I did. You worry a lot more lately”

  “Can’t imagine why, can you?”

  “Gee, Bob, you mean us running a secret repair and medical facility for alien travelers that the government would dearly love to get ahold of?”

  “That can’t be it, do you think? A little thing like that shouldn’t bother me, should it?”

  “Dee must be right about those blue contacts. There’s no way your eyes aren’t brown, full of it as you are.”

  “It’s so nice to have friends.”

  We went up to the medbay as the ship landed. I said, “One of you two better carry her in. I don’t want to be in the doghouse.”

  Dingus replied, “Me either. You’re elected, John.”

  Dingus and I cleared a path for John. Snitz decided we needed ‘help’. I said, “Snitz! Go find Max.”

  Amazingly, he did. Once John made it down the basement steps, we closed the door to give him and his patient some privacy. Nikki said, “I’m confused, Caveman. If those planes were following the tracker, and not the noise, why didn’t they seem to be able to find the saucer on the ground?”

  “I’m guessing they went to altitude to save fuel, while they waited for a ground crew to come and recover it.”

  “So as long as the tracker didn’t move, they didn’t need to stay very close?”

  “That’s what I’m thinking, but like I said, it’s just a guess.”

  John emerged from the basement door. “She’s settled. I told the doc to keep her asleep till morning.”

  “Did she say anything about how they came to be in such a predicament?”

  “No, Bob, she’s still loopy from the morphine. We’ll have to wait till morning to find out what happened.”

  “I think we’re headed home then. Holler when you need help moving that guy in from the saucer.”

  “Thanks, but I think I can use a floater pallet.”

  “One of these days, I’m going to get my head around all the cool tech we have to play with now. I’m stuck in Earth think.”

  “Snagfart, Bob, it’s only been a couple of months. Give yourself a break. We’ll get there.”

  “You’re right, John. Later.”

  When we all got back, Snitz had to make sure no one had disturbed his yard while he was gone. It seemed like I had just crawled into bed when the sun came up, and it was time for ear licks. Snitz is our official alarm clock, and he takes his job seriously. I started coffee on the way out, even though it was urgent that we recheck Snitz’ yard for intruders. There must have been some, because he felt compelled to leave them several nasty pee mails.

  Having made our morning rounds, we went back in the house. Joanna was working on breakfast, and Lyla was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, apparently finishing the stories she had written while she was here.

  “Good morning, ladies.”

  Joanna replied, “Hi, Bob. You look tired. You should let that poor girl sleep.”

  “Ha, ha. We got called out last night.”

  “Is that what you kids are calling it now?”

  “I’d tell you to ask Dee, but you’d accuse her of the exact same thing.”

  Lyla finally realized what I’d said. “You got called out? What was it this time?”

  “Somebody put a tracker on a Guide saucer that us locals could see. They caught a missile and got forced down. We were able to slip in and get them before the government could get there to collect them. Got a couple missiles shot at us before we found the tracker and shut it down.”

  “When you tell it, Bob, it sounds like you’re telling me you had pancakes for breakfast. Where’s your sense of drama?”

  “I think it’s still at the other house.”

  “Do you ever take anything serious, Bob?”

  “Nope.”

  “I’ve got to run back today and turn in the stories I’ve already got. I’ll be back tonight, can you do me a favor and not talk to any other reporters before I get back?”

  “I don’t know any other reporters, Lyla. Do you mind if we scan your saucer before you leave? I know we cleaned it last time you were here, but I wouldn’t want you getting shot at.”

  “Sounds like a good precaution, Bob.”

  Dee and Dingus wandered in. I said, “Didn’t expect to see you before noon.”

  Dingus answered, “Barb had to get back, besides, Dee didn’t want to miss Lyla before she left.”

  Lyla said, “Not a biggie, really. You folks make more news than any planet I know of. I’ll be back tonight, to write up your latest adventure.”

  Dee said, “At this rate, you’ll have to change your last name to Watson.”

  Joanna and I laughed, Dingus and Lyla went digging in their culture packs. They seemed to be having trouble, so I gave them a hint. “Sherlock Holmes, a fictional detective. His sidekick’s name was Watson.”

  With the added information, they were both able to find i
t.

  Dingus said, “Dang! If I had only stayed awake another fifteen or twenty years, I would have already known that one.”

  From the back of the house, we heard, “Snagfart, dog! Get Caveman to take you out! I don’t want to get up.”

  Soon Zombie Nikki came shambling in, moaning, “Cawwffee, Cawwffee”.

  I got her a cup, and she sat staring into it, trying to learn the secrets of the universe. “I thought you were gonna close the door, Caveman.”

  “I thought I did. It must not have latched.”

  “Check next time.”

  After breakfast, I went down to the shop to see how the boys were doing. They had found one of the saucers we had that wasn’t flyable, that was the same model as the one we brought in. Ozzie was pulling parts from the donor, Topper was checking to make sure they were still good, and Taz was installing them on the other saucer.

  Topper called, “Good morning, Boss. Hope you don’t mind we brought the whole donor down from the barn, instead of parting it out up there and hauling parts.”

  “Seems like the logical way to go about it. Were you careful about being observed?”

  “We were able to join our stealth fields over the top of it.”

  “Good work. I need one of you to go over Lyla’s saucer before she leaves, just in case she picked up another tracker.”

  Ozzie said, “I’ll go Boss. I’m already ahead of Topper. What he’s doing takes more time.”

  We trooped back up to the barn, with Snitz checking for new scents the whole way. Ozzie started his scan, and found something. He pulled an access panel, and extracted a small box. He hit it with a laser, and it smoked a little. Then he handed it to me and said, “Safe now, Boss. I think the metal roof kept the signal from getting out.”

  “Is that the only one?”

  “I don’t see any other trackers, Boss, but I do see an electrical device that does not appear in any of my databases.”

  “Can you generate an image?”

  He showed me a picture of the object in question. It was an appliance of a personal nature. I said, “That’s not anything to be worried about, Ozzie, but I do think we should let the maintenance bots check for sabotage before she flies this beast.”