"What was that?" asked Dr. Quest.

      "It sounds like a machine gun firing," Race said as he went for a gun
and out the door. "Stay here, Doctor."
Quest knew he should follow the advice of his bodyguard, but with the boys
being in danger, he ignored the advice. Besides a gun, he also grabbed a
medical kit. It might not help much for gunshot wounds, but might make a
difference if anyone was shot.

      The judo, and self-defense training and the reflexes the boys had
learned from Race and on their various adventures came in handy this time.
As the intruder started to open fire, each boy hit the ground. They were
caught out in the open, nothing to hide behind and the ocean too far to get
into. "What do we do now, Hadji?" Jonny asked with a trace of panic in his
voice.

      "I have an idea." The Indian boy concentrated, and said, "Sim sim
salla bim." A piece of driftwood that was lying there from when it had
drifted in during high tide suddenly flew up and veered to the shooter's
left. This confused him for a moment before he opened fire on this unknown
object. This was enough time for the boys and Bandit to scramble for better
cover.

      As the intruder was about to fire on the boys again, Bannon grabbed
him from behind, hitting the arm hard enough to cause the gun to drop,
then  he was able to get into a position to throw the intruder to the ground.
"Oh my God!" Race exclaimed. To his astonishment and horror, he had heard a
crack like glass breaking, saw the intruder try to rise, then lay still
gasping for breath. Race moved towards the figure and realized this wasn't
some diver, but someone in a spacesuit.

      Doctor Quest came up, along with the boys and Bandit. "Are you
alright?" They all said yes, then he bent down to look at the attacker.
Benton opened the medical kit, took out the small flashlight, shined it on
the intruder and almost dropped it. The light shone into a cracked
faceplate of a helmet attached to a spacesuit. The suit was red with silver
cylinders, some tubing and what could be best described as metal circles on
various parts of the suit. A greenish liquid remained on parts of the
helmet, ground and on the green skin of the face.
"Good God, I think this is an alien. Jonny, Hadji, Race, get a stretcher
from the house, get the lab open and hope I can do something in time to
save this being's life." The three did as they were told, and shortly they
got the dying alien to the lab.

      In the lab, the Doctor did what he could, but he had no knowledge of
how to treat liquid breathing alien life forms. Even trying to analyze the
liquid so he could try and make some for the alien or something close
enough to help the alien breathe proved useless. The alien soon died. As
Benton was working on the alien, Race took the boys to the house and made
them stay there while he checked the grounds to make sure no other hostile
life forms came ashore. Afterwards, he went back to the lab, to check on
the Doctor and find out what was to be done with one alien corpse and its
hardware. Since the Doctor didn't know if they were contaminated, or if the
corpse could still transmit anything, Benton asked Race to put on an
environmental suit and help him move the alien and his gear into a small
room of the lab that could be kept quite cold.
Afterwards, Benton had them go through a decontamination procedure,
not sure if it was too little, too late since both had been in close
contact with the alien. Even though the boys had wanted to get a close look
at the alien, Benton told the boys to keep their distance, hopefully
keeping them safe.

     Jonny and Hadji did what their dad and Race said to do:  give Bandit a
bath, decontaminate themselves, and get a snack before going to bed.  They
decided to make some coffee for the men and as they were waiting for it to
brew, Jonny said, "You know Hadji, I always wanted to see an alien from
outer space and thought it would be like the tv show, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN,
but it's more like the movie, WAR OF THE WORLDS."

      "You're correct, Jonny,"  Hadji added, "I hope that alien didn't
bring any bad microbes with him which will make us all sick.  I don't know
about you, shall we go to bed, like we're supposed to?"  For once Jonny
agreed with him and they went to bed instead of staying up and either
watching a movie or playing a game.

      The hour was late and both men were tired. Race poured the coffee
the boys had made when the Doctor had finished up in the lab. "What now,
Doctor? What do we do with that body and the equipment? Can you imagine
what anyone at NASA or Intelligence One would say if you called them and
told them you had a green skin, liquid breathing body in one of your labs?"
Race spoke with a touch of humor in his voice imagining what would be said.

      "Yes," Benton sighed, "and at this point, I'm not sure what I should
do or who to call." Race's jaw dropped since this was one of the truely
rare times that Benton Quest admitted that he had no solution to a problem.
Benton continued, "Too many things have been happening lately that have no
explanation. First Jonny and Hadji see those lights, then that unknown
explosion, then Doctor Lake shows up, and then tonight's visitor. I may be
jumping to conclusions, but there are more questions than answers."

      Race thought for a moment and hoped he wouldn't sound like an idiot
"Maybe you should try calling Lake. She seemed awfully curious about your
space projects, especially the ion engine, and since Hadji thought
something was not right about her, why not call her in the morning and ask
what her reaction would be?"
      Quest looked at him for a few moments, then at his coffee cup and
back to Race. "Well, better one person thinking I'm a nut than two agencies
I'll call her first thing in the morning."

Virginia got up early the next morning, had a nice breakfast in the hotel
restaurant and returned to her room to write the fictional article that she
would show Doctor Quest, but would never be published. As she approached
her room, she heard the phone ringing and hurried to get it.
"Hello?" She knew it wasn't anyone from S.H.A.D.O. and only one person had
her hotel number and room extension. -

      "Good morning, Doctor Lake, this is Benton Quest. Please don't think
I'm insane when I tell you this, but you may find it interesting. I've got
an alien life form, more accurately a dead form, in a cold room here in my
lab along with its equipment." Virginia went numb. "This green skinned, red
suited figure came ashore last night and tried to kill the boys. He died
after a fight with Race. Would you be interested in seeing the equipment or
the body?

      This was the last thing the Commander had wanted to happen. She got
the report about the two UFOs, but if an alien attacked the Quests, either
the damaged UFO made it to Earth, or worse, a third UFO was in the area.
"Doctor Quest, would you mind if I came out by helicopter to your place? I
can be there shortly.."
 

      "Are you going to rent a helicopter?"

      "NO, I'm a licensed pilot and there's a place I know that has copters
for hire. If I may have the coordinates?" Her tone was a command and she
got them and rang off.
Using her briefcase radio, she called the local S.H.A.D.O. base and told
them she needed a helicopter fast and the location where she could pick it
up. Then she placed a call to Headquarters.

      To her relief, she didn't get Straker, but Alec Freeman, who could
get just as angry as Straker but not as fast. "Good day, Virginia, it's
always a pleasure to speak to you."

      "It won't be when I tell you about the call I just got. Where's the
Commander? I don't have much time to talk."

      "Well, he's topside doing some studio business, but I'll give him
your message." Alec said with a smile in his voice.

      Virginia bit her lip as she had a habit of doing when nervous or mad.
"Quest just called. He's got an alien corpse in one of his cold labs. He
didn't give me many details, but it came ashore at his place last night and
close to murdering his two boys before being stopped by Bannon. I don't
think he's called anyone else about this since I don't think he knows what
to do with the body and equipment. I'm on my way out there. When SkyDiver
One gets into the area, you might want to put it on Red Alert. I'll call
when I find out more. I may have to tell Quest and Bannon about S.H.A.D.O.
and depending on their reactions and what may develop, the Commander might
want a medical team to stand by with the amnesia drug. I've got to go Alec,
I'm bringing this with me so if anything major happens, you can call."

"     Fine, I'll tell Straker. Freeman out."

      Virginia went and got the helicopter and flew out to Palm Key,
landing at the helipad some distance from the house. As the rotors slowed
to a stop and Virginia shut down the copter and grabbed her handbag and
briefcase, she saw a strange craft coming towards her. It was a hovercraft,
more advanced in design and much more quiet than what she had seen
before.       Quest landed the craft near her, helped her in and spoke to
her as they went to the lab. "Thank you for coming on such short notice.
This is a most delicate situation, and most unusual. I thought you might be
interested in it."

      "I certainly am. Did you contact anybody else about this?" She hoped
not since that would make S.H.A.D.O.'s job a bit more difficult if he had.

      Benton looked down at his controls before answering, then, looked
back at her, then back to his flight path. "Uh, no. Telling someone you
have a dead alien in your lab does little for your credibility."

      They reached the lab, the hovercraft settled to the ground and they
got out and went into the lab. Quest went to a monitor, switched it on and
a picture of a dead alien in its suit, minus helmet, was on the floor.
Having seen dead aliens before, Virginia wasn't surprised at seeing this
one, but feigned surprise and interest. "So what are your plans now,
Doctor?"
      Before he could answer, her case sounded an alarm. She had put it on
a table, now opened it and picked up the handset so only she could
  hear the incoming call.  It was Straker.
      "I got your message.  Are you at Quest's now and can you talk and
does he have an alien body in his lab?"  Straker demanded.

      "Yes to everything, Sir."
      Before she could say more, Straker cut her off.  "Alright, we're now
on Red Alert so tell them about S.H.A.D.O. and be prepared for something
since that dead alien sure didn't come alone. A team is also on its way to
pick up the body and depending on what happens, they got the amnesia drug
with them. Keep me informed, Colonel."

      Lake returned the handset to the case. "Doctor Quest," she said in a
command tone, "I have something I would like to tell you and your family
immediately. Where are they?"

      "Before I tell you, just who are you? I got the impression yesterday
that you're not a freelance journalist. So who do you really work for?" he
demanded.

      "I'm Colonel Virginia Lake and I'm in an international military group
called S.H.A.D.O., Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization. The
aliens we defend the Earth against have an agenda and you have a specimen
of their race in your lab. Time is short. I'll give you more information
when I talk to all of you. Shall we go?" She picked up her case and handbag
and walked towards the door. Benton was stunned for a few moments,
recovered, then led her out of the lab to the house where Race would be
teaching the boys their school lessons.

      Several miles from Palm Key, the alien in his ship started his plan
to eliminate or capture the human scientist who posed a threat to his race.
The UFO moved through the water and towards the island. If the inferior
human opposition was in the area, they would find it difficult to detect
this craft since it stuck to the contours of the seabed and sonar had a
hard time detecting it. The alien had no thoughts about his future, just
thoughts on how to complete its task.

      Race, Jonny and Hadji were surprised to see the two scientists as
they entered the library and even more surprised when Dr. Quest
reintroduced Lake as a colonel in a military organization dedicated to
fighting aliens from space. Lake gave them a brief history of S.H.A.D.O.,
its purpose and about the team that was going to arrive to collect the
alien body, leaving out the part about the amnesia drug. "The reason we
think the aliens are after you, Doctor, is because of your ion engine. They
wouldn't like it if we got it and put it in our Interceptors and space
probes. Once we found out about your engine, one agency who does cover work
for us made sure that you couldn't test it." Quest was about to say
something when she stopped him. "The reason for this is we didn't want the
engine to go commercial and since the aliens have many ways of finding out
about projects and causing havoc with them, it was decided to let you work
on the engine and when the time was right, approach you about it. This
current situation was not what the Commander planned. Now that you know
about S.H.A.D.O., would you consider helping us?"

      Before Quest could answer, Bandit started to bark, then they heard a
strange noise. "The UFO," Virginia said, grabbing her briefcase just as the
house shook from an explosion. "Lake to Control, we're under attack."

      A brief pause before Straker came on. "Understood, Colonel, Sky One
is on its way." The house shook again and she closed the case.

      "Jonny, Hadji, take Bandit and get to the inner lab. Go with them,
Colonel," said Race.  The boys were already on the move. It would be a
risky run to the lab, but even more dangerous to stay in the unprotected house.
"And what are you two going to do? You don't have anything here that can
stop the UFO," Lake stated.

      "This is no time to argue or give you a tour of the place. Race and I
are going to use something that can slow down, maybe even stop that thing.
Join us if you want," Quest told her, "Race, let's get to the para-power
ray gun." Virginia grabbed the radio and followed the two men out of the house.

      It must have been luck that they didn't get hit by any of the energy
beams. The three reached a large building, Bannon opened the doors and they
entered. The building was hit by a beam, then another. "This place won't
last long, Doctor, Lake pointed out. Then she noticed a large device that
the two men were activating and moving towards the open door. "What's
that?" she asked.

      "A para-power ray gun. It saps energy from any device. I'll tell you
about it later." Quest said as he worked the controls and Bannon monitored
the power for the unit.
The Colonel stood back and watched the two men work. Bannon called out that
this strange looking gun was at full power, Quest aimed it at the UFO and
nothing happened at first, except for a loud hum. The UFO stopped firing
and started to waver. Both men were also wearing headsets and as she moved
closer to Quest to observe him working the device. Virginia listened and
realized that the men were not only talking to each other, but to either
Jonny or Hadji in the lab. The UFO was fighting the ray. The more the UFO
fought to escape the ray, the more power Quest needed to keep the weapon
operating and finally Bannon told him the power was at maximum all power
sources on the island were feeding into the ray, but in 30 seconds the
power would fail.

      The UFO was losing altitude, but was still trying to pull away from
the beam. The time went too fast, the power gave out and so did the
para-power ray. "Will the power recharge soon?" Lake asked while watching
the UFO try and stabilize itself.

      "Yes," Quest said, "but how fast do those UFOs recover?" They got
their answer when an energy beam from the UFO struck close to the trio.
"We've had it," said Race, "the ray won't recharge before that thing fries us."

More beams struck, but then a new sound was heard. "Sky One's arrived,"
Lake said with a trace of relief in her voice.

      The UFO broke off the attack, tried to outrun the jet, but failed.
Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit joined the three adults, hoping to catch some of
the air battle. Lake noticed that the UFO moved a bit slower than normal,
but it still had enough power to fire at Sky One. Captain Carlin avoided
the beams and fired the jet's missiles at the UFO. The missiles found their
target and the UFO disintegrated in mid-air with the pieces falling into
the ocean.

      Lake got on the radio. "Lake to Control."
   "Glad to hear you, Colonel," Straker said," Sky One destroyed the UFO.
Is everyone alright there?"

      "Yes, Commander, but some of the buildings have been damaged. If it
wasn't for a device Doctor Quest used, it would have turned out different."

      "What device?" Straker demanded. "The island was reported to have no
defensive capabilities. I want a report on it and make sure Quest doesn't
have any other surprises hidden away."

      Lake hesitated, looking at the radio, then to the Quest group, then
back to the radio. The Commander wouldn't be pleased that she didn't know
anything about the para-power ray and Doctor Quest might not be pleased
being questioned about everything he's working on and the weapons that
might be on the island. Even though she didn't have all the facts she gave
a brief summary of the ray gun and what it did to the UFO. If Quest got
mad, tough, her duty is to S.H.A.D.O. "The para-power gun looks like a
large laser mounted on a mobile base. It seemed to disable the UFO by
interfering with its power. It ran out of power before it could totally
stop the UFO, but I believe it slowed it down enough to save us and give
Sky One a chance to destroy it. I'm sure the Doctor will give me more
information about it." The four of them looked at her.

      "Alright, I want a complete report. I've changed my mind. Offer Quest
and Bannon a job with us, but only if you think the kids won't be a
security problem." If Lake thought anyone of them was a security risk, the
amnesia drug would be the mildest option. The other options would be
execution or an untimely accident that would be fatal.

      "After what I saw and heard today, Commander, I don't think there
will be any security problems."

      "Fine, when you have everything straightened out there, let me
know."  Straker cut the link.

      Virginia sighed. "Well, Doctor, Mr. Bannon, will you two consider
working for S.H.A.D.O.? The benefits are good and we can offer you more
protection from the aliens and I'm sure finding funds to test the ion
engine won't be so hard to come by, along with vehicles to test it in."

      "What about the boys? They're too young to be in a military
organization." Doctor Quest sounded concerned.

      the Colonel looked at the boys. "You two can't be operatives, first
because of your age and second, because you don't have the qualifications
and experience that meet our minimum requirements." The boys looked
disappointed. "After you reach legal age, get a university degree and
possible military experience, and if S.H.A.D.O. is still around, you could
be asked to enlist."

      "Gee, Colonel," Jonny said, "by then we'll be old."

      the adults laughed. "Are you calling us old?" Race demanded in mock
anger. "Our next judo practice, I'll show you who's old."

      virginia joined in the laughter, but then got serious. "Well,
gentlemen, what do I tell the Commander?"

       the men got serious. Well, I can't speak for Race, I still have
several questions. I want to know more about S.H.A.D.O., what will happen
to my research and what reason do we give to Intelligence One for leaving?
I don't want to spend my time cooped up in some lab somewhere just making
or refining devices for S.H.A.D.O."

      race added, "I also want more information. I'm sure you got the best
security agents in the world, but I enjoy my job now and being a security
guard doesn't cut it for me."

      "Gentlemen, after we finish up here, I'll contact the Commander and
arrange for you to talk to him. Will that be suitable for you two? Shall we
get to work?"

      as the group started to survey the damage, Jonny said to Hadji, "Gee,
remember our conversation awhile back about walking on the Moon? If dad and
Race join this group, we might get our chance."

End