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shows he watched. Everything from the Nazis to the symbols on the dollar bill to the Denver airport were implicated in N.W.O. theories. He hadn’t given the theories credence. Aliens were one thing. He could buy wormholes and interstellar travel by beings potentially millions – even billions – of years ahead of humans. Turned out to be true. But he’d never bought that the whole world was run by a handful of super-rich, mega-powerful people. In his experience, it was hard to get three people to agree on something let alone a whole group of them. Besides, there were too many democracies in the way to let that happen.
    “I don’t get it,” Jack said. “Why build this? How did they know about the aliens? And this war Sturgis kept yammering about. Is it for real? And everyone who’s not down here are supposed to what?”
    “Die.” Sewell said it matter-of-factly and without a hint of sarcasm.
    Jack had been fighting against helplessness before Sewell arrived. After all, he was on Earth, and Erika and Ian were – well, not on Earth. But now, the puzzle pieces were falling into place. Croft and his buddies had known for years that the greys were coming to kick our pathetic human asses and they used taxpayer dollars to build themselves an insurance policy à la Aphthartos.
    Hope drained from Jack like a siphon was hooked up to him. He was dizzy. Whether it was from the new information or from three days of surviving on crackers and tuna fish, he didn’t know. Mom. Now he could add worry for his mother’s safety to his growing list of people who were going to die, and he couldn’t do a thing to stop it. For some reason his brain called up a mundane memory of his mom tossing him the key to her car.
    “You drive,” she’d said.
    They were heading off to school. His mom was an English teacher then and Jack a sophomore at Scottsdale High School. Jack had just gotten his license. He slid behind the wheel and his mom buckled into the passenger seat. After buckling himself in, he glanced over at her and she had the most beautiful smile on her face.
    “What?” he’d asked.
    She chuckled. “You just – you look like your father. You know, I knew him when he was your age.”
    “I’m … sorry?” Jack couldn’t help what he looked like, but it made him feel bad that he was a constant reminder to her of the man who’d broken her heart.
    “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay. Not your fault that he turned out to be a scum-sucking bag of –” Her smile had faded. “No. I don’t want to think of him like that.”
    “Like he is, you mean.”
    “Maybe.” She took a deep breath and shook her arms out in front of her as though she could shake out the knowledge that Jack’s dad had left them and run off to the East Coast somewhere with a woman half his age. “Does no good to dwell on the ugly stuff. Now, my handsome chauffeur, to school.”
    Jack couldn’t bear the idea that his mom would be a casualty of the war Sewell spoke of. A lump came to Jack’s throat.
    “Die? That’s not the only option, is it? I mean, we have enough nukes on this planet to wipe out a whole alien army, right? Come on, Sewell, tell me our government – the real government – has a plan.”
    “I’d like to reassure you, but I cannot. Further, I do not have the answers to all of your questions. Honestly, I’m not sure any one person does. Even Commander Sturgis was told only what she needed to know to do her job. She was to create hybrids. She was told it was for an upcoming war. That’s it. I suppose Croft is the only one that knows everything.”
    “And he’s not likely to sit down to tea with me and have a chat, is he?”
    Sewell shook his head. “I’ve arranged for you to stay in Tucson with Anna Sturgis.”
    Jack’s breakfast nearly came back up. “Wait – what? A Sturgis?”
    “She’s Commander Sturgis’ niece.”
    “I don’t care if she’s the Pope’s niece. If her last name is Sturgis, I don’t want to be within a