Chapter Fifty-Three

T HE TRAIN ROCKED gently back and forth as it headed south along the coast, the landscape rushing by, covered in houses and the spread of civilization.

Joseph watched the world zip by, and he wondered if it was something of an apt metaphor. Trite, to be sure, but apt nonetheless. He wanted to tell Nate the things he'd seen. Joseph wanted to tell the SOG team everything so they'd know everything they might be up against, but he couldn't. He didn't even know how much he could reveal. He'd never been one to test the limits of the human mind, and he didn't think it'd be wise to start now. Not when they were facing what seemed to be their most difficult of tests.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Robert's number, but immediately hung up.

"What's your view on the world?" Joseph asked suddenly.

"The world?" Nate replied, a little surprised that the old man was talking again.

"Cosmologically speaking. Do you believe in evolution?"

"Are you trying to ask if—"

"I'm asking what you believe. I don't care why you believe it."

"I believe, uh, I guess, that the world is about four billion and change years old, and that this all came about through the Big Bang."

"And what about the other things?"

"Other things?"

"In the universe."

"I think there are some," Nate started. "Don't know what those things are, but, I mean, there's stuff out there."

"Aliens."

"Sure."

"But you don't know about them — you just believe they're there."

Nate narrowed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Are you about to tell me something along the lines of Roswell being true?"

Joseph smiled wryly. "I'd hope you already know the truth about Roswell."

Nate nodded his head ever so slightly.

Joseph nodded in return. "There's more out there."

"And?"

"And some of it wants to come here."

"Why?"

"That I can't tell you. They're not human — they don't have the same motivations we do. They don't subscribe to the same feelings or emotions that we do. I can't say if they are hungry and want to eat us, or if they are greedy and want our resources. It's like an ant wanting to know why we build a highway over their nest. Beyond that, I can't tell you anything concrete I might actually know about them. Or it. Or what they may be."

"And why's that?"

"Because there's a limit to what humans are able to handle. At least as far as I've seen. Some people, when they are shown behind the curtains, well, they go mush."

"Mush?"

"Their brains go mush."

"Literal mush?"

"Figurative."

"So we're up against things that will cause us to go insane if we find out about them?"

"Well," Joseph said, drawing it out until it had a few extra syllables, "we, as the BEA in general, we are up against such entities. You, and by extension, your team, are not. You are up against the humans who are, well, I guess, uh, trying to stop the BEA. Or harm the BEA."

"So we're bodyguards."

"I wouldn't exactly put it that way, but I suppose there's some truth to that."

Nate sighed, then looked at his watch.

"Humans are involved in this?" Nate finally asked.

"Sure," Joseph replied with a nod.

"Why?"

Joseph took a deep breath, then let it all out slowly. "That's a tough question. There's a fair amount of speculation about it. Why engage with entities which are virtually guaranteed to bring about our mutual destruction? Partly, it comes through accidental exposure. Someone learns about a thing, they learn a name, or a ritual or some such, and the entity can latch onto our plane. Our world. They get a beachhead through that mind, that psychic connection, and then, even though the person might seem human, they aren't any longer. Others can be described as, perhaps, being confused. Or lied to. They are fed stories of power, tales of riches. If they only bring this entity here, they will be given power over the world. Just kneel to the creature. Or thing. I mean, you understand I'm talking very vaguely here. These aren't necessarily creatures here — they might not even be organic. These are just concepts—"

"I get it," Nate said, putting his hands up, "concepts. Words that fit what I might know."

"Exactly. And other times, there's no human involvement. It's just a thing that stumbles upon us and wants to do whatever it wants to do. Eat a meal. Rest in an ocean. Sit upon a planet. Suck out our atmosphere."

"Have these things happened?"

Joseph smiled. "Perhaps."