Jea

Something bigger that racism.

By Steven Donnini

Library Of Congress
WGA
Copyright Steven Donnini 2007
Steven Donnini

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The home office of art critic Dennis Moore is cluttered

with three computers, overflowing bookshelves, and stacks

of periodicals. Looking out windows built across one wall,

the lush trees and clear night sky cover the sense of being

in the city. He sits down in his well-worn leather chair

for an evening of computer surfing on the Internet. He

logs on and checks his E-mail. Nothing exciting, just a

few offers to make him an instant millionaire.

The chat rooms can be interesting because people will say

anything when they're not face-to-face. Most of the time

nothing is surprising. But, there's always a chance you'll

find an idea in cyberspace. Surfing into his favorite chat

room, where people talk about aliens and government cover-

ups, he types in. "What's happening?" Targa says, " I

don't know you." Jea says, "It's only an illusion." Targa

says, "You sound like my girlfriend." Dennis asks, "Jea

can you explain." Jea answers, "We are communicating in

space that only exist in our minds. There is no real space

in cyberspace." Targa says, "Oh forget it!" Dennis is

hooked; he loves this kind of chat. He spends the next few

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weeks talking with Jea about everything from art to war and

history.

Late one night, Dennis is at home on the computer and he

sees a pale face in his office window. It looks like the

famous alien everyone draws, with big black oval shaped

eyes and the colorless face. They stare at one other for

sometime, checking one another out. Cautious and decorous

Dennis talks to him through the window. Jea doesn't

answer, and then he disappears into the darkness.

The next night, Jea is in the chat room once again. Now,

that Dennis has seen him, he speaks more freely. He talks

about himself and why he doesn't like to be called an

alien. He says, "A hundred thousand others like him are

earthlings too, we share this planet. We were here when

your people were on all fours." The Dadait people as they

are called, came here on an expedition thousands of years

ago. Their planet drifted out with the expanding universe

beyond the trekking range of their spacecraft, in short,

they are stranded. They are nocturnal and cannot expose

their pale skin to ultra violet light. There is so much of

this kind of talk on the Internet that no one seems to take

notice. But, the NSA is always listening on the Internet.

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They're looking for key words, revolution, atom bomb,

neutron and so on.

Once they've locked on to someone they listen for a bit to

see it there's a threat of any kind to national security.

A zealot at NSA, agent Joan Davis takes an interest in

Dennis and Jea. She begins to record the conversations

they have. Dennis wants to meet again face to face, Jea

agrees. The meeting is set in West Texas on an isolated

location along the Rio Grande River.

It's midnight Nov. 20, 1996, and Dennis is sitting on the

hood of his old Ford F-100 pick-up looking skyward awaiting

Jea. Across the southern sky he sees a star like light

getting brighter. A small polished chromium sphere touches

down in the headlights of the pickup. Jea emerges from an

aperture and walks over to Dennis. Jea holds his 6

fingered hand palm out, Dennis instinctually presses his

palm to it. The sensors in Jea's hand read Dennis. Dennis

asks, "Why did you come here?" Jea answers, "I'm bored

with my kind. They are afraid of everything." Dennis,

"Like what?" Jea, "The underground nuclear testing. Until

the people of this world started nuclear testing, we had a

peaceful co-existence. Now every time your people set off

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a nuclear test the roof shakes in the catacombs half way

around the world. We have relocated many times to avoid

the nuclear blasts." Dennis, "Why are you telling me

this?" Jea answers, "I'm not apprehensive, most people

don't believe we're here. Your people won't believe you if

you tell them the truth, so I am not frightened." Dennis,

"Where have you made your home?" Jea, "The Catacombs of

Madagascar, in subterranean cities." Jea goes on to

explain that Dadait are a peaceful race of creatures. They

have 3 Queens that give birth in the catacombs to a highly

structured social order. They have lived on earth for

thousands of years. Exploiting the human race without

permission from a queen is punishable. Once they lived

underneath the pyramids of Egypt, but were forced to move

because of the excavation of the tombs. Once they lived in

the Nevada desert. There the nuclear testing almost

destroyed them. Now, living in subterranean ant like

colonies in Madagascar, they are safe.

Out of the darkness a U.S. Border Patrol truck is

approaching at top speed. Jea makes a quick exit into the

night sky. Dennis tells the officers that he was looking

for a place to camp for the night. They tell him that it

too dangerous to camp here because of the Mexican drug

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smugglers that pass this way. He is so excited about the

encounter with Jea that he races home to Longview, Texas to

tell his best friend Sam.

Sam Elliott is not into the hacker/alien stuff. He is a

concrete thinker, reasoning that Dennis is spending too

much time on the Internet. Dennis wins him over with the

idea that together they should take an adventure trip to

Madagascar. Sam will be the official photographer of the

expedition.

The paranoid idea that someone is watching over the

Internet is true.

In fact, Joan Davis, of the NSA is watching every move; she

makes plans to follow along.

Dennis has packed everything, including his IBM/Note Pad

laptop.

They fly to Paris, then on to Ivato in Eastern Madagascar.

The taxi ride from to the Hotel Colbert in Antananarivo is

exciting. There's a sense of adventure in the air. Sam

points out that the only scent in the air is of human

waste, "They go where ever they have the urge." In his

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hotel room, Dennis sets up the laptop and waits for Jea to

talk to him on-line. Annoyed with the computer geek stuff,

Sam goes to the hotel casino.

At 1am, Jea appears on-line. Dennis tells Jea he has come

to Madagascar to see the catacombs. Jea is worried that

the elders will not understand. They've forbidden humans

to see the Catacombs. Many have, and the experience for

them wasn't pleasant. The science of the mind is an

important thing to life in the catacomb. There's an

aggregate consciousness. That is the big advantage the

Dadait have in the "being" equation. They have mastered

their feelings and use them with great skill. They feel

their way around in a manner of speaking.

At the hotel casino, Sam meets Joan Davis. She shows

interest in him and they drink cocktails. At 2:00am the

casino closes, they spend the night in her room.

On the Internet connection, Jea goes on to tell Dennis that

the Dadait see themselves as ethereal beings. Their

spirits are reborn over again in the embryos the Queens

lays. But, they have a dark side in the form of the

Pilgri. They are the emotionally primitive spirits of death

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and devastation. The Pilgri wander the countryside at

night to prey on cattle and human flesh. Their head is ant

like with epidermis that is thick, impenetrable and a

glossy reddish black. At 6'2" and 250 lbs. they are quick

and dominant predators. With fierce claws they can take

your head off. They oblige the Queen with fresh meat

everyday and take delight in their work. Queen Vell has

been producing the Pilgri eggs in enormous numbers and a

power struggle between the queens has begun. The Pilgri

are quickly taking over the population. They intimidate

the submissive Dadait.

In the last few months, several Dadait have been found

mutilated in the catacombs. No one has taken credit for

the kills, but Jea and the others know what is going on.

The 3 Queens must resolve the conflict or the Pilgri will

reach critical population count, produce another

genetically pure Pilgri Queen and multiply out of control.

Their aggressive nature will compel them to make the short

trip west across the Mozambique Channel into the African

mainland where the hunting is better. All of Africa is in

danger of becoming the hunting ground for the Pilgri. Who

would know until it was too late? The Pilgri will take the

whole continent in a few years. Jea is looking for help

from his human friend. Dennis is enthusiastic, but he

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knows people will think he is out of his mind. Now, he

must demonstrate that the Pilgri are real. Jea agrees to

take Dennis and Sam to a Pilgri game hunt in the mountains

east of Antananarivo.

The next morning, Sam is more interested in Joan than the

so-called expedition. Dennis convinces him to go along as

an eyewitness and to get scrupulous photos. He strikes a

deal if Joan can tag alone. Jea gives him instruction on

where to go and wait for the Pilgri. He wants them to be

armed with high power, hunting rifles. Although Sam is in

disbelief, he takes the advice seriously and makes the

contact to buy the guns from a local dealer. Sam arrives

back at the hotel ready to do battle. He lays the gear out

on the bed in his hotel room. The equipment is archaic and

in need of cleaning. The ammo is an even bigger problem.

There's no telling if the guns would fire at all. Sam

shows off the arsenal. Joan is not impressed; she doesn't

take the adventurers seriously anymore. It's clear they

are just a couple of weirdo’s. She has taken to Sam and

decides to tag along, in case they get in real trouble.

She can help them, if the local police pick them up.

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At dusk, they load up the equipment in a rented Range Rover

with the aid of Julo, their driver guide. The route is 8

hours east through the mountains to a Malagasy village.

Sam has packed infrared film for the nocturnal photography

of the Pilgri.

Joan and Sam are joking as they bounce along the washed out

red clay road. The headlights of the car shining into the

trees covering the trail revel the abandoned village. The

trip has left them exhausted. For their security Jea has

given clear instructions on where to hide and observe the

Pilgri with their prey. They arrive at the village just in

time to unload the gear.

Julo hides the Rover as the others climb in the trees to

have a clear view of the Pilgri as they began to gather.

The Pilgri spacecraft land in the abandoned village and

unload the captives. What follows is like nothing ever

seen by human eyes since the dark ages. The people were

from all over the world, samples of exotic flesh for the

taste of Queen Vell and her court. The victims look like

they are in a daze, are striped of clothing, then

meticulously cut into pieces with lasers, put into alloy

containers, then loaded on board the craft. Extraordinary

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hypnotic music is playing so loudly it covers the victim’s

screams. Sam is holding on to a tree limb with a hysteria

grip. Joan has covered her eyes and Dennis is frozen.

Julo hides behind the Rover.

Jea was right; an Africa full of Pilgri isn't a safe place.

Human beings are being harvested for the indulgence of

Queen Vell. The ground around the village starts to shake

as the Pilgri spacecraft lifts off the ground. They

gracefully glide out of sight behind the mountains to the

east. Sam says, "Dennis, I won't call you a geek anymore."

Joan adds, "I'm delighted you didn't use your guns."

The rain-washes away the blood stained ground. Mixing with

the red dirt, it looks like a river of blood washing down

the mountain. Dennis jumps down from the tree to meet Julo

at the Rover. In broken French, he talks of the mythical

evil spirits of the mountains that have come down for

centuries to kill livestock. He tells Dennis that he

shouldn't look at them, because they get in the soul and

you will dream of them forever. Joan asks if there is a

police or military compound near by. Julo knows of one two

hours away. They drive away into the abundant forest.

Dennis wants counsel from Jea. Sam is of the opinion that

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they should, find the Catacomb and nuke it. He argues that

Jea didn't come clean about what was going to happen. Joan

asks, "Would you have come if you knew?" They drive and

talk about the possibilities. If Jea is right, every human

being on earth is in jeopardy. But, why haven't these

beings been seen before now. Dennis answers confidently;

they have been for centuries, dating back to early cultures

recordings. These being are represented on artifacts in

the Andes, North Africa, India, China, and in the American

Southwest, it's nothing new.

The Rover rolls into the military compound and stops at the

gate. A small soldier with Indonesian features steps out

of a metal shack and greets them. Joan is the best at

French so she takes over the conversation and informs him

they need to use the telephone.

He walks them to the office. The CO is polite and

accommodating. He requests they stay the night for rest and

food. Joan knows it is discourteous to reject the offer,

so she thanks him and accepts. There is one phone line

going east to Toamasina. Joan makes the first call to the

French Embassy in Antananarivo and is patched to her office

in Washington.

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It is 1:00am, her boss Jim Bailey is sleeping at his home

when the call is sent to him. He answers and takes the

phone into the study, so not to wake his wife. He listens

cautiously to her report. There have been many reports

about abductions and strange disappearance, but not from a

NSA agent. He asks if she can get any hard evidence for

him. She admits she had the chance and lost it, because

she didn't believe Dennis. Joan knows it's time to tell

Sam and Dennis whom she works for. After listening

carefully Dennis expresses his outrage at the paranoid

government. They agree they need help, so they trade the

old guns for working models from the CO. Joan leaves an

NSA card with number to call if they don't return. They

agree to make another contact with Jea and set up a time

and place to take photos. Dennis knows the only

possibility to get in touch with Jea is on the Internet.

So, that night they set up his laptop and connect to the

Internet, through the hotel back in Antananarivo.

They wait watching the chat; at 11:15 pm Jea is there with

apprehension in his words. He's message is... "You have

seen what will happen to your people if the Pilgri are

allowed to multiply. The Dadait are forbidden from killing

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any living creature. Therefore, we are defenseless against

the Pilgri.

The Queens have met in chamber; they can not come to an

agreement and will fracture into two separate mounds.

Queen Vell and her Pilgri will excavate to the west to the

Mozambique Channel. Queens Asie and Luti will move

colonies by mining east to the Indian Ocean. The Pilgri

will be at their weakest when digging the main tunnel.

Their spacecraft will be the last moved into the new

Catacomb and will carry only the embryos. They will mine

24 hours a day until they reach the channel. Jea estimates

it will take 4 days. At that time they will be drained of

consumables and strength. That's when they can be ravaged.

They cannot be buried alive or crushed easily, as they can

lift 60 times their body weight. Their external hide is 3

inches thick that covers the most vulnerable parts of the

physique. They will have to be killed one by one with

high-powered rifles. Dennis must set an ambush at the port

city of Mahajanga before they tunnel to the surface. Joan

talks to Jea about getting proof that this is really

happening.

Jea directs them to a location in the rainforest not far

from the military compound where they can enter the

catacomb without being seen, but it must be done during

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daylight. Jea last advise... "Be armed to defend

yourselves."

In the morning rain Julo packs up and they drive the Rover

into the rainforest. Using a Naval Land stat satellite

receiver, Joan directs them to within 10 meters of a small

opening to the catacombs, covered with moss and spider

webs. They crawl along for 30 feet to a larger tunnel were

they could stand. Dennis notices an unfamiliar odor. The

cool damp air fogs Sam's glasses and camera lens. Using

Jea's directions they move deeper into the mound. As they

round a corner they approach a huge bell shaped catacomb

120 yards across. It contains three spacecraft, two are 30

ft. spheres, one 15 ft. It looks like a maintenance

hanger. 3 Dadait technicians are at work on the smaller

craft; tools and parts are lying around. One technician is

making a part with a particle beam lathe. Sam crawls out

to a location behind alloy containers where he can get a

good photo. Sam stands and points the camera at the small

sphere and shutter clicks loudly. None of the Dadait takes

notice with all the noise of alloy clanking around. A

Pilgri guard steps out of a shadowy tunnel and with a few

steps he is positioned behind Sam. Dennis and Joan scream

a warning, it's too late, and Sam turns to defend himself

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from the powerful claws of the Pilgri and is cut across the

chest. Joan takes aim with her rifle and fires off a

couple of rounds into the gut of the Pilgri, it shrieks

with pain. The Dadait technicians disband into the

tunnels. The Pilgri is wounded and turns toward Joan and

Dennis, leaping with his powerful legs he is face to face

with Joan. At close range she fires three more times into

its gut. The Pilgri falls down landing on his back, dead.

Joan pushes Sam toward the exit tunnel. Sam is seriously

cut, but can make it out. Julo is waiting at the entrance

to the mound pacing with apprehension. They get in the

Rover and Julo drives off into the jungle in a panic.

Frightened they make it back to the military compound.

Sam's wound is tended and Dennis reports what has happened

to the CO.

Joan calls her office in Washington to report what has

happened. Jim Bailey is waiting with his staff in a

situation room, when her call comes in. They realize that

in spite of all the high tech gadgets at their fingertips,

this is going to have to be handled the old fashioned way,

with surreptitious brute force and effectiveness.

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The U.S. Navy is stationed in the Indian Ocean to defend

shipping lanes from the Middle East oil fields. A Navy

Seal team will meet them at Mahajanga. A Navy helicopter

is on the way to pick them up and bring them to the U.S.S.

Enterprise, where they can process and scrutinize the

photos. Sam will get needed medical help as well. Dennis

wants a chance to persuade Jea to come with them to the

Enterprise and tell his plan. He connects to the Internet.

Jea makes contact at once; he's been waiting and wants an

understanding between Dennis and the others that there must

be no reference to the other Queens, Asie & Luti. Jea will

land his craft on the deck of the carrier at 10:00 pm.

The night sky over the Indian Ocean is clear, the new moon

is bright as the helicopter lands on the aft deck. They

are greeted by a Naval Intelligence Officer and taken to a

debriefing room. Later, the photos are laid out for

everyone to observe, it is clear what they show. The

commander orders a mission using 16 Navy Seals and four

Cobra attack helicopters. The details of the mission will

be worked out with Jea.

The deck of the carrier is covered with almost 5,000 men

when the alloy sphere cruises along side the massive

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Enterprise. The sphere circles around the ship once then

stops amidships. It sets down on the deck in the middle of

the crowd. Dennis runs out to meet him, the aperture opens

in the side of the spacecraft and Jea steps out with a

small black device. They move through the crowded deck.

The sailors are flashing pictures from little pocket

cameras. Jea walks into the briefing room and greets the

Commander with the Dadit hand palm press. Jea places a

small device on the console in the middle of the room. A

hologram of the Mahajanga port area appears above the

device. They formulate the ambush plan. The Seal team

will be waiting when the first Pilgri break ground to the

surface. Then, they will fight their way in to the tunnel,

locate and kill Queen Vell. They must kill all the Pilgri.

Jea doesn't know how many they will engage, but 16 Seals

should do the job. Jea returns to his craft and lifts off

into a mysterious sky.

Joan and Dennis are suited up for the ride to observe.

Hours latter, they lift off the deck in the Cobra

helicopters for the 300-mile trip to Mahajanga. They will

have to refuel at the airport in Antananarivo. The

Enterprise has set a course to the port of Mahajanga.

After refueling, the helicopters fly to the location on the

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outskirts of the city where Jea believes the Pilgri will

break ground.

The deployment goes well and the Cobra's are pulled back.

They use a seismic probe to listen for the tunneling

Pilgri. They are approaching from

the East. A giant drill bit breaks the surface and pulls

clear of the tunnel opening. Seal team leader Como starts

the operation. Seals dressed in black mask and suit; enter

the tunnel with deft speed, shooting at everything that

moves. The Pilgri are absorbed in their work and are

utterly surprised by the attack, they are slow to respond.

Exhausted and wearied they begin to fight back. The Seals

are out numbered and are driven out of the tunnel. Six of

the men have been killed and another five are in need of

emergency medical help. The rest are running carrying the

dead and wounded to safety on the Cobras. The ambush is a

disaster. They radio the ship and report the situation.

Joan and Dennis are overwhelmed by the events. They just

want to get as far away from Mahajanga as possible. They

navigate to the island of Grande Comore in the Comoros

islands, refuel and return to the ship.

The Pilgri have emptied the spaceships of Queen Vell's

precious eggs have followed the Seals back to the

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Enterprise. Their spheres hover above the horizon. The

captain gives the order to open fire with surface to air

missiles. The spheres move abruptly, the missiles pass by

and fall into the ocean miles away. They close in on the

ship and attach their craft to the ship's hull just above

the water line, sticking to it like magnets. They cut

holes in the side of the ship and enter into the lower

decks killing everyone they meet. The captain orders his

men to fight for their ship. Deck by deck the Pilgri claw

their way toward the command station. Then the captain

orders all hatches closed and locked. Many seaman are

trapped to fight the Pilgri one on one, it's a blood bath.

Joan suggests they cut off the Pilgri escape by removing

the spheres from the sides of the ship. A team of Seals

lower themselves down the sides of the ship to the spheres

and places C4 charges around the outside of each craft.

The charges are all timed to blow at the same second.

Dennis and Joan watch the action from the wheelhouse.

The blast loosens the spheres and they fall into the sea.

The Pilgri are trapped on board the ship, the tide has

turned. The seaman are taking back the ship, killing the

Pilgri. They retreat back to where they entered the ship

to discover that they are stranded and must fight to the

20
death. The last few Pilgri are shot and fall into the sea

out the holes where their craft was attached.

On the deck of the Enterprise, Sam, Joan and Dennis stand

together looking toward the island of Madagascar. Dennis

says, "The battle of Mahajanga will decide the fate of 100

million humans." Captain March orders the Enterprise and

support ships to set a course for the Mozambique Channel,

east of Comoros Archipelago. All aircraft on board will

engage the Pilgri at 08:00.

At 06:00, Joan gets NSA clearance for Sam and Dennis to

climb aboard a helicopter gun ship as observers. They lift

off as the sun rises across a clear horizon. The ride to

the port is loud and jarring. Everyone on board is aflame,

knowing that they are not going to take the Pilgri by

surprise. They'll be ready, waiting and competent. The F-

14's with rockets will engage the Pligri spheres with their

pulse particle beams. The thing about the particle beam,

is that when it hits metal, it will burn a hole like a

laser tear all the way through to daylight. So, a plane

can be cut into pieces in seconds. The advantage to the

F1-11 rockets is they penetrate the alloy surface of the

Pilgri sphere, detonate and obliterate the hull from the

21
inside out. Nukes cannot be used, because treaties prevent

it.

They know from Jea that the Pilgri are ingenious combat air

fighters. Capt. "Lighting" Betts leads the first strike

coming in low across the water. They see 24 spheres in a

pyramid formation. They slowly change formation as the F-

14's close in. "Lighting" Betts locks on to a target with

his radar and fires a missile, the others follow suit. The

Pilgri formation changes again, the missiles stay locked

on, twisting and crossing paths as they streak to their

targets. Seconds before the first missile strikes, the

Pilgri quickly change formation and most of the rockets

miss their targets, but the ones that hit do the job.

Several spheres explode and fall into the channel. Joan,

Sam and Dennis watch the battle develop as the spheres

shoot back with deadly results. The F-14's are loosing the

dogfights, two to one. "Lighting" has learned from Jea

that the Pilgri eyes are light sensitive and can be blinded

with the infrared light that guide the missiles to the

target. It will only work for a few seconds at a time, but

it will be long enough to disorient them. "Lighting,” tell

the other pilots what to do. The table’s turn, the Pilgri

are blinded by the laser light and are shot down. The

22
Marines land from helicopters and shoot their way into the

tunnel. Dennis tells the CO that Queen Vell must be

killed. If she has time to tunnel into the mountain

underground they will loose her and the Pilgri will be even

more powerful and elusive.

The Marines bravely fight in the new tunnel, but they are

on an unfamiliar battleground, fighting an enemy that must

survive. The Marines are cut down, some cut in half by the

pulse beam rifles.

Queen Vell orders the tunnel sealed off. The Pilgri want

to finish the job, but they must follow the Queen deep into

the mountain. As the Pilgri retreat they cut the top of

the tunnel loose with their pulse beam rifles and

Tunnel collapses. The Marines pull back to the entrance of

the tunnel. Joan, Sam and Dennis land at the mouth of the

tunnel. They gather with the Marines. The battle is over,

but there's no doubt they will meet again.

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