Anaz-Voohri Read Free Page B

out.
    Furious at being dismissed, Zack yelled at their retreating backs. “I know what I saw!”
    Agent Michalski turned about, his face hard, eyes glinting like steel. “You didn’t see anything, young man." His voice carried an unveiled threat. “You understand me?" He slipped on his shades but Zack could still feel his stare. “And not a word of your absurd story to the press, not even to your parents, understood?”
    The truth suddenly flashed in Zack’s mind. The FBI believed him all right. They knew he’d told the truth. They had taken his testimony and would study it, but publicly they would deny everything, like in those conspiracy theories he’d come across on the Web.
    Zack realized he’d better not argue, or harm might come to him and to what was left of his family. The FBI had the power to silence anyone, if it threatened a government cover-up. Uttering a deep sigh, Zack let his shoulders drop. “Yeah, whatever.”
    As soon as the FBI left, Zack ran up to his room and rebooted his computer. Fortunately, before falling asleep, he’d saved the documents written for his Masters in Investigative Journalism at Berkeley. Nothing damaged.
    First, Zack retrieved his email. The web buzzed with testimonies of UFO sightings. His friends at The Daily Californian, the students’ newspaper for which Zack provided articles, sent him links on the topic. Dedicated Yahoo groups started on the subject, and Zack joined them all, adding his own statement to the slew of reports. Maybe the Web would provide the right tool to start looking for answers.
    Perched above the monitor on a bookshelf, Dude encouraged him with loud purring and swept the screen with his bushy tail for good measure.
    Zack scratched the cat’s big black head. “Thanks for your support, Dude. At least I know you believe me. You were there.”
    Time to revamp the website Zack had sorely neglected in the past months. He pulled out a portrait of his sister from her seventh birthday album and gazed at it. Wiping his eyes, he reluctantly set the photograph on the scanner. Then he posted the picture on his homepage with the legend:
    Have you seen me? My name is Ashley. I was abducted from my LA home by an alien creature on the night of July fourth, 2003. If you have any information at all that could help find me, contact my brother Zack.
    No FBI clown in a black suit would prevent Zack from getting to the bottom of this mystery. Zack owed it to Ashley to help her, and he would stop at nothing. “Ashley, if you can hear me, girl, tell me where you are,” he prayed, while his feverish fingers flew over the keyboard.
    Zack had not finished uttering the words when a clear image formed in his mind.
    The place looked strange as he stared at a purple domed ceiling with designs that looked vaguely familiar, like stylized figures he’d seen on Native American jewelry or maybe on some pottery at the mall. He had the sensation of lying on a flat surface that felt like warm skin.
    When the vision dissolved, Zack realized he’d just communicated with Ashley. He’d been in her body for a brief instant. Had he really seen the place where the monster kept her? Was she lying on that skin-like surface? Ashley must have read his thoughts as she often did. Still reeling from the psychic experience, Zack realized Ashley was letting him know she was alive. She’d called him for help.
      “Thanks, little sister,” he whispered. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you." He grabbed the cat and swung him up into the air. “Dude! She’s alive!"
    Now he must find out where the monster had taken her. Full of hope, Zack ran down the stairs, snatched his mother’s car keys from the dish on the table by the sofa and ran for the door. Zack’s first stop would be the Native American shop at the mall. He could probably find out what this stylized figure playing a flute represented.                                            
     
     
     

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