Subj: The Ingenue Pt.4
Date: 1/30/99 2:22:27 PM Central Standard Time
From: marcos1

S wearing out the road. Julia thought to herself. Barnabas had driven everyday to the hospital, checking on Burke. She just couldn't understand. Barnabas had always hated Burke Devlin. What had changed?

“Do you need something?” Julia asked. She sat next to the hospital bed. Burke sat silently watching reruns of The Invaders. He shook his head, eyes fixed on the color TV.

“Is he saying anything?” Barnabas whispered, walking into the room. He had been meeting with Doctor Wilson; the doctor in charge of Burkes case. Burke hadn't said a word since coming to the hospital. Doctor Wilson was of the opinion that Burke didn't speak, because he didn't want to.

A nurse walked in and delivered his lunch. It was ground steak and mashed potatoes. Burke gulped down the food, just pausing a moment to sip his ice tea. His eyes never leaving the TV program.

“Oh, television,” Barnabas chuckled softly, “I try to never watch it. It is so much better to read the classics.” He sat on a stool next to the bed. “To hear the voices of those that cant speak...that is what reading is. People that have been dead for generations, lending us their wisdom.” He narrowed his eyes. “Would you like me to bring a volume from my library—Id be more than happy to—”

“They've got it wrong,” Burke said, leaning forward in his bed.

“What did you say?” Barnabas asked, standing up and moving closer.

“Barnabas,” Julia said, “give him time. He's had a terrible shock of some kind.”

“Collins,” Burke said, his voice sounding harsh, “you want to know what happened. You want to know why I'm still alive---”

“Yes,” Barnabas said, visibly moved. “How could you?”

“They saved me,” Burke said, pointing at the TV. A spaceship hovered over Roy Thinnes head. They were the invaders.

Julia said, softly, “Burke, you have been through so much. It could have been a dream.” She touched him.

“No, Julia, it wasn't a dream. It was more real than anything I've ever experienced...Burke began...

“There was an engine failure in our plane. The seconds seem to become hours, as the plane descended, crashing into the jungles of the Amazon. It seemed like slow motion, as the parts of the aircraft broke into pieces, human bodies flying everywhere. My last thought was of Vicki. I would never see her again. A blackness fell upon my mind. I was out cold for I don't know how long. When I woke up, my body felt like a well full of pain. I was hurting, really bad. It was night and the sky was visible through a break in the underbrush. That is when I saw it.”

“What did you see,” Barnabas asked.

Burke continued,“It was a large mass, huge, covering a large part of the sky. It was moving fast, very fast, only it gave the impression of moving slow, because of its size. I tried to focus my eyes on it and determine what it was, but I couldn't. Its appearance changed, with my every thought of what it was. When I thought of a flying saucer, it became that, but when my mind wandered to another possibility, it became that...Burkes eyes widened...’it was almost as if what it was, was beyond human thought and apprehension. Our minds weren't equipped to see it and formed mental images to fill the missing blankness. In the end, it was what my mind wanted it to be—nothing more or less.”

To be continued—

Author's note* I saw the same thing that Burke did. It was in 1985. I'll never forget that night. It gave me hope that there is more to the world than surface appearances. I was really thrilled, when I had the experience. The newspaper said that it was a Russian satellite, but I have my doubts. That isn't what I saw at all.