spacepaladin15
patreon
The Nature of Predators - Farsul Abductee (1/8)
🕑 Added 2023-07-01 11:00:10 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Danny Palmer, Human Law Enforcement
Date [standardized human time]: June 14, 1974
The Bureau’s name had been dragged through the mud, for as long as their Watergate shitshow ran its course in the media. President Nixon was embarrassing the country’s institutions and highest office, with the increasing awareness of his involvement. To my civilian friends’ disappointment, I had nothing to do with those investigations, despite how every field office was lending resources and sharing the interview burden. All I did was a menial role as a pencil pusher, sifting through reports of suspicious activities. My superiors often chose to discard tips I passed along as “not worth the time.”
Senior Supervisory Analyst was a mouthful of a title, so it was abbreviated to SSA in most cases; those in the office who were less than fond of Marvin Schneider would drop the A, in what I thought was a tasteless reference. The reasons behind that nickname were obvious, with the boss being a hardass through and through. He was looking to catch anyone slacking off, yakking with their coworkers, or failing to meet their production quotas. However, I never had issues with him, since I could fly through reading in a blur. My mother said I’d always been a bookworm, spending every summer with my head stuck in a book.
Schneider wandered in with me, as I filtered into the elevator at the end of the day. “Weekend’s upon us, Danny. In a rush to get out of here, are ya? You got any plans with that Susan girl of yours?”
“We broke up,” I answered, with a weary sigh. Worked too late, too often. “She didn’t like the long hours and all.”
“Is that right? I thought you were a lovely couple, damn shame. You need to find someone who appreciates a hard-working man.”
“I’m alright with being alone, and doing some things just by myself. When the right person comes along, I’ll know.”
“Well, I expect you to get a headstart on the briefing materials.” The elevator dinged, and Schneider’s eyes lingered on me as we walked out. “Be there bright and early, you hear me, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
I didn’t mind the extra workload that much, as nice as it would be to have an uninterrupted breather. Reading came naturally to me; I enjoyed my job, and picking relevant information out of the weeds was a delightful task. I understood where my supervisor was coming from, since the war generation was different. The Bureau had a reputation to uphold, and Schneider took that personally. He was a workaholic, who held everyone else to the same standard of diligence he followed.
My father was a lot like him, so I guess I’m used to it. Everything has to be perfect. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
I waved farewell to Schneider, who seemed pleased by my mild-mannered obedience. Placing myself in his good graces, it was a matter of time before I was slated for a promotion. A couple years toeing the line, and maybe I could have my own position of power. For all I knew, I’d end up being just like the guy, running a tight ship. Tapping the beige hood of my car idly, I ducked into the door.
The wall-to-wall traffic in Boston was a familiar sight, as I cruised away from my job. Perhaps what I’d built was a mundane life, but I was looking forward to becoming respectable and settling down. Unlike my brother, Greg, my parents could talk about me without veiled disappointment, or remarking that I was “a free spirit.” Greg was a bad influence—a fuck-up who got other people caught up in his wake. I’d moved across the country to avoid seeing him, apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Upon my arrival at my apartment, I hiked up a set of stairs and was eager to conk out on the couch. My hands fiddled with my key ring, unlocking the door with relief. However, a drawling voice shouting my name about made me jump out of my skin. After jumping back, startled, disdain took over. I recognized the intruder as the deadbeat brother I resented so much.
“Dan the man! What’s crackin’?” Greg declared, wrapping me in a smothering hug.
I heaved a sigh. “You just let yourself into my apartment…showed up from San Francisco, unannounced.”
“It’s a surprise! Your birthday’s Sunday, and after all the years apart, we gotta do something radical. Besides, I’ve never seen your crib. Listen—”
“Why do you talk like that? Do you think it’s cool?”
“Well, yeah, it’s pretty nifty!”
“Is letting yourself into my place ‘nifty?’ I never gave you a key.”
“Take a chill pill! You left the window open, and I drove all this way to see you. Why are you so bugged out? We’re family.”
I truly was a patient man, not one to lose my temper or hold a grudge. Greg was a special case, however; I couldn’t be around him without feeling irked. My brother was what polite company would dismiss as a hippie, a pothead who didn’t take anything seriously. Every opportunity throughout our childhood, he would steal the spotlight, or ruin occasions with some harebrained stunt. My resentment became permanent after I found him stealing from cash I had in a shoebox under my bed, earned from my first job at the local diner.
I have no concrete proof of other instances, but a lot of things went missing when we were kids. Greg is a kleptomaniac, and I can’t be convinced otherwise.
I checked my apartment cautiously, inspecting my brother’s pockets with sideways glances. A quick inventory showed no valuables were missing yet, but I had to keep him under close watch. Trying to loosen my shoulders, I slipped my jacket off my arm and threw it onto the couch. Part of me wondered why Greg was really here, if he wanted handouts, or if he’d committed a major fuck-up that he needed help with. At the end of the day, he was correct that he was family. I had to humor him, for a short while.
I held out my hands in front of me. “What is it you want, Greg?”
“You live such an uneventful life. Do you ever do anything for yourself? Do you do anything risky?” he asked, flipping his stringy, dust-colored locks behind his shoulder. “I know we haven’t always gotten along, but we had good times. I want one night where it’s like we were kids again.”
“Get to the point. What is it you want?”
“The beach! Why don’t we go to the beach and look up at the stars? I hauled my guitar up here. Learned some funky folk tunes, even wrote a few of my own.”
“The beach is closed.”
“Who’s gonna give Mr. FBI a hassle? We can catch up, and you can live a little. I don’t think you really listened to any of my stories ‘bout the war protests, so I could catch you up.”
“If I go with you, will you leave?”
“You do this and I’ll mind my potatoes. Promise.”
Suppressing another sigh, I waved my car keys around and gestured toward the door. This was going to be an insufferable drive, listening to Greg prattle on about his flower power nonsense. Where I had been looking forward to the weekend, now I was wishing to be back at work.
—
Massachusetts beaches were the best-kept secret; the coast was beautiful at this time of year. The stars reflecting in the ocean’s expanse looked like radiant pearls, bobbing with the waves. Greg kicked off his shoes, and ran onto the soft sand with exuberant shouts. I left my work shoes in the car, plodding along in socks. The gusty breeze felt nice on my face, blowing away some of the stresses of coping with my brother.
Greg plunked himself down in the sand, after tucking his guitar case down gently. I thought about asking if he knew any Don McLean songs, but opted against it. My brother would prefer to offer a poor rendition of a Bob Dylan tune, since that seemed to be his fancy every time we met. I found a spot next to him, resisting the urge to check my wristwatch. It would fall on me to make sure we didn’t track sand back into my car after this outing.
Instead of pulling the beat-up guitar from his case, Greg retrieved what was unmistakably a rolled-up stick of weed. My eyes about bulged from my head, as my brother lit that up right next to a federal agent. The skunky smell was recognizable in an instant, and I stared daggers into his skull. The washed-up hippie that called himself my sibling instead extended the drugs toward me.
“Fuck you! Are you trying to get me fired?” I spat. “Why would you put me in this position? If someone saw me here…”
Greg lowered the paper. “I thought you could afford to relax. Always so serious, so put together.”
“That is a good thing. Life isn’t a fucking joke. I am going somewhere, climbing the ladder, and I don’t need you taking a sledgehammer to it. But that’s what you do—you fuck things up for others and leave them to clean up the mess!”
“I…you really hate me, don’t you?”
“You know what: yes, I do! I wish I’d never see you again.”
My brother winced, reaching for his guitar case with a crestfallen expression. He trudged back up the beach, and I thought I heard the sounds of sniffling. Guilt tugged at my chest, as I realized my words were harsh, yet I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to stay. When he was almost out of shouting distance, it occurred to me that I couldn’t let him walk or hitchhike back to town. My parents would blame me if he got into trouble in Boston, despite both of us being full-grown, independent adults.
“Hey, come back, Greg! I’ll give you a ride home.” I sprinted after him, though he didn’t turn around at all. “Why don’t you tell me about those songs you’ve been writing?”
“You don’t care,” he sulked.
“We already came all the way out here. Might as well try to have a good time, right? Like you said, we’re family, so we—”
A dazzling light, perhaps a spotlight beamed directly at us, flashed out of the corner of my eye. Greg’s head snapped in its direction, and the look of alarm suggested his first thought was that we’d been caught trespassing. I could hear a distant noise, like the jingling of a bell, and spotted movement near the jagged cliffs. Were kids playing some odd games with kites, drawing attention to the area? Stumped, I decided to investigate for further clues.
“Must be some hooligans stirring up trouble. I’ll go check it out, clear ‘em out,” I muttered.
Greg crossed his arms. “Whatever. I’ll watch your six, but then I’m gonna keep on steppin’, dude.”
I crept back down onto the beach, and felt the sand give way beneath my toes. The lapping of the water offered a soothing sound, as I donned my best stern expression. Messing around on the cliffs was dangerous; the last thing I wanted was to see someone fall and crack their skulls, or get trapped in an eddy current. Why didn’t parents supervise their children at all, at these hours of the night? Cursing to myself, I accelerated to a light jog. My brother watched from the edge of the sand, a vacant gaze on his face.
Chills went down my spine, although I couldn’t put my finger on why at first. Then I realized; there were no birds in the sky, and no ambient noises from animals. The sand seemed to have swept away, with a windblown pattern that cleared off the upper layer. My eyes darted around, searching for the source of the noise. If this was some practical joke on a passerby, it was successful in giving me the creeps.
What if it’s not kids? It could be something like that Zodiac Killer in the papers; he’d love to gut an FBI agent.
“Hello?” I called out, cupping my hands to my face. “Show yourself!”
A pained yelp echoed out behind me, and I whirled around. That had definitely been Greg’s register, but I couldn’t see my brother keeping watch in the distance. If this was him messing around with me, I was going to knock his lights out; this wasn’t amusing at all. Blood rushed in my ears, as I raised my fists in a defensive posture. My head was on a swivel, searching for the mysterious prowler. They likely were armed, but maybe if I rushed them, I could take them down.
My heart was hammering in my rib cage, and the adrenaline was overruling conscious thought. If some murderer kidnapped my idiot brother to torture him, I wouldn’t let that happen on my watch. I booked it back toward where Greg had been, pushing my lungs to their limit. There was nothing but a trail of foot-holes, followed by what looked like drag marks. This was the real deal; someone had dragged him across the ground like a sack of potatoes!
I gritted my teeth, huffing. “I said show yourself, coward! Are you not man enough to look—”
Something pierced the palm of my hand, and I brought it close to my chest on instinct. A dart was sticking out of the meaty flesh, which I yanked out in a hurry. It tingled like venom, and hot blood oozed out onto my damp skin. Whipping around, there was no sign of the person that shot me. I realized with a start if that was laced with some agent, I needed to find shelter before it took effect. If not, I’d be completely at this psychopath’s disposal.
Thinking quickly, I got the desperate idea to lock myself in my car and get it rolling. Despite being still winded, I pushed myself to full speed; my feet fumbled off the sandy ground and landed on the stone pathway. The pavement felt rough beneath my socks, but I ignored the scraping pain. The beige paint of my vehicle was visible a few hundred meters away, and I pushed my legs even harder. My strides turned heavier, each step more haphazard than the last, as I began to lose command of my weight.
Almost there. Fight…keep going!
Vertigo took hold, and I stumbled on the pavement. It was difficult to balance, even after I pushed myself back to my feet. Thoughts diminished, beyond the vague sense of horror of what would happen to me and my brother. All my brainpower was directed to issuing a new command to move my legs, but instead, they buckled altogether. The sound of my skull hitting the pavement was like dropping a bowling ball onto the lane; everything was fuzzy. I extended a three-ton hand, stretching it out toward my tires.
The irony was how close I’d been to my Hail Mary; my downed form was perhaps a yard away from the car.
Sneaking onto the beach was the sort of needless jaunt that I should’ve never agreed to. This topped everything else that my brother had gotten me wrapped up in. My arm splayed limply across my stomach, and my attempt to call for help came out as a groan. Were these my final moments alive? Was this my last taste of fresh air, and my last experience not in agony? Nobody who would kidnap someone roaming the beach could have good intentions.
Blackness cast its shadow over my vision, the sign of my system shutting down against my will.
A/N - Part 1 of the new series! Our main character is an FBI agent from the 70s who has bad blood with his brother...and of course, winds up abducted out on the beach. We learn exactly what goes into the missions to snatch human subjects, and what it was like from their perspective. What will it be like for Danny when he wakes up? How will he handle the sudden twist of fate?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
BXSinclair
The part about Watergate that people reacted so negatively too wasn't Watergate itself, it was the attempted cover up
Sobek
There were a lot worse things going on by 1974 for a FBI agent than just Watergate. Looking back it's almost cute that people thought Watergate was so bad.
Javier Solis
Wonderful beginning! I really hope to see how it turns out!
Peytonic
Then again we’ll probably see how the abductees feel with Sovlin’s pov with Hunter, so this story could be solely focused on abductees experiences with the fursul
Peytonic
Hmm so good chance that Daniel is the same Danny the archivist befriended, so obvious route is that this story will end with his death, but I feel that would be to easy/simple and we wouldn’t get to a abductee’s reaction to what’s going on in the current galaxy and on Earth. My guess is that we may end up following his brother instead as he returns without his brother.
Space Paladin
Thank you!
blankxlate
This is really insterestimg! I’m glad to have caught up, and I love the old timey lingo. 😂
RetroFlame
He’s a fed. He shoots dogs in his free time. Give him all the work in the world.
EliasArt2Life
Ah! Thank you SO much for those memories!
Anthony Emerick
"The sole reason for my relationship failing is the unreasonable working conditions you have forced upon me." - "Too bad it wasn't something else. Find someone who accepts the way you are treated. Here's more work." - Ah, the American dream.
O5-69
Sovlin noted that Veiq was filled with grief when she mentioned Danny. He's probably dead 💀
Unknown
If this is the same Danny that was mentioned in 126, it's possible he's still alive. They said he got sick, not that he died. There's a chance they put him back on ice when the deficiency kicked in.
blankxlate
Farsul WHAT? (Joking, I actually caught up this time!)
EliasArt2Life
Would it be cruel to tell you to reread chapter 126?
EliasArt2Life
No no no, you see, here, the Farsul are ambushing the PREDATORS because otherwise they would attack the poor Farsul when the Farsul tell them that they are being abducted. It’s self defense! NOTHING predatory about it at all! (And because I know some people can’t pick up on it, this whole comment is sarcasm. They really should invent a punctuation mark to denote sarcasm…)
Lord Tvlor
Man, why did you have to remind me?
DrewTheHobo
Wow, awfully predatory of the Farsul in this one
Garrett Sommerkamp
Danny was the archivist's friend, he gets experimented on
richfiles
Oh no... This is Danny... This is going to be a tough one, given we know how things end for Danny...
Vanela
Ok, so 1 of two things is likely going to happen. Either the brother gets experimented on and is long dead, making Danny process that, or they both get rescued, and the story shows a contrast between how they both adapt to the 22nd century.
EliasArt2Life
Yeah. I’ve never agreed with the people who say “if things hadn’t gone exactly as they had gone, humanity would be under Kolshian control.” We would have been conquered, but I think we would have figured out that we couldn’t win before the Kolshians took it to the extremes that they did with the Venlil. I think there would have been an underground resistance waiting until the right time to strike.
ArkansanDragon
No, I think he was one of them that died from lack of B12. :(
Andrew Lechner
Oof, I'm really relating to Danny here. While I don't quite hate my younger brother, and he's never stolen from me, he is definitely a deadweight that just eats up our parents' money and attention while I go out into the world and am becoming self-sufficient. My brother also isn't a hippy, thankfully. I very strong irrational hatred of hippies and stoners.
EliasArt2Life
Danny & Greg’s parents really set them up to be at each other’s throats. By the sound of it, they’ve always been apologists for Greg, and placed responsibility for his actions onto Danny. Never a good combination. Danny became obsessed with the consequences of his (and Greg’s) actions, while Greg grew up never having to take responsibility for anything, because his brother was the one who should have stopped him. Definitely a case of parents inadvertently setting their kids up for failure. Also, this is going to be super tragic, isn’t it? We already know Danny is Veiq’s “human friend”, who died. I hope this doesn’t put too much focus on Danny’s mental and physical degradation.
OhioOkie
Very good beginning. Danny could be considered as war prisoner and be compensated occordingly. He would have had assumed promotions. If the FBI had duel ladder his pay would be calculated as a GS-18 step 10. So i wonder if the USA will pay him as a prisoner of war. If so, he is very rich and would be open to immediate retirement at 80% of final calculated salary and be covered for medicare insurance. The other aductees would not be so fortunate. It will be interesting so see his adjustment. His former job could be very close to a current one for analyzing threats. It would take a year for him to get up to speed. This POV will be so interesting. I am sure he will be on talk shows and selling cereal.
Space Paladin
Thank you!
Apogee
Sadness, I’m probably gonna hate the archivists even more after this
Jonathan Cardoso Mota
Oooh, the *focus* on how much this guy likes dissecting a story and how good he is at finding it's inconsistencies. I'm not missing this checkov's gun, SP. I am NOT missing it. This guy is going to have a very, veeeeery interesting set of interactions in the future. Which is weird, Veiq's friend is the guy who is most likely to have seen through all her lies? Wherever is this going?
Kelly
You too? Happy birthday!
Weston Simmons
This is a classic scenario the story is interesting i can tell but why darts seems a bit easy to detect is all assuming they don't recollect the dart which could be easy or very hard depending on if it has a tracker in it or not if it doesn't thats kinda a needle in a haystack thats also assuming it has words on it which could be a set up for something in the future like a conspiracy side series but i was kinda expecting something related to the fursal acoustic sciences like a infrasound thing.
RockGisaraki
I’ve been on a muppet show binge lately. In my head I read Danny with the voice of Sam the Eagle, and Greg as Floyd Pepper from the band.
Spencer M.
1974? If they figured out vitamin B12, occupation would have gone... poorly. Sure, atheism wasn't as prevalent, but 1974 wasn't the dark ages, meaning that they couldn't use "wrath of God" as an excuse. Anyone taking a hypothetical "vaccine" against a claimed pandemic suddenly becoming allergic to meat would make it clear as day that this is the work of them, even if the specifics of what they're doing wouldn't be clear.
Weston Simmons
Not if they get woken up at different times
Ondram05
Oooooooh SHIT now you got me curious as FUCK
Stellar
Hope his brother got taken as well, and they have a reconciliation in the future.
Pyroraptor
Thanks for the chapter!
Pyroraptor
Yeah that's going to hurt later.
Alex
as a Massachusetts native i appiciate that this guy is from there but i am not going to lie i was kind of hoping this would start with george murphy and those other two with him being told what the farsul were actually doing
Peytonic
Hmmm so it seems like his brother got taken as well, question is whether or not he was one of humans the Fursul already experimented with or not.
DRIVE ME CLOSER, I WANT TO HIT THEM WITH MY SWORD
He is a paper pusher, so he’s most likely not trained as a field agent.
Taliesyn
The fact that the Farsul dragged his brother away strongly suggests that they both got abducted.
NoblePhoenix216
This is going to be an interesting series. Such a unique viewpoint combined with what we know about the archives is going to make such a great story. On a personal note it's nice seeing Massachusetts get some representation in NOP, our beaches really are something else. Thanks for the chapter SP
HiMyNameIsFelipe
And the last thing he said to his brother, was that he hates hin
Cooldude101011
I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds out from human records that his brother desperately searched for him.
Roscuro
Wasn't expecting this, let's see how it goes.
Luke Reinhardt
I think making them FBI was a great choice, it adds another view point ☺️
Anthony Mears
He gets to completely skip disco. Small blessings
Anthony Mears
Your assuming that he's not trapped in the future with him as they are both abducted and have to live as " Felix and Oscar" (anyone get the reference)? Damn I'm old
S1nsational
I think making them FBI wasn't a great choice, I don't think his experience is going to have the same impact as a more "average joe" type person like Hunter. Fine he'll probably be conflicted over his brother, or maybe not, but his skills as a fed will be to a degree transferable to the current age.
Byron Ritchie
Jesus if something like that happened to me it would freak me out
Byron Ritchie
Me too
Michael Morse
SP this was an inspired choice of character. I’m excited to read about his emotional journey.
Xandar Greenwald
Liking so far! Can’t wait for the moment our main character realizes he never apologized to his long dead brother.
Byne
For some reason I was 100% expecting the farsul abductions to be your stereotypical cartoony 'hover over the human in a saucer and lift them up in a beam of light' abductions.
Yonael Blackwood
💀
Kaiser Marcqui
God, I just love this. This reads like your typical alien abduction story, but the fact that we already know who these weird aliens are makes it so unique and so much more interesting. Excellent writing!
[channel name here]
On my birthday too??
Julia M
You see year and think: You poor bastard
Jack Skorupski
I want to believe…
Anthony Mears
2 Maybe sometime in the distant future, his investigation skills can be put to use helping Will Kane. On second thought, I don't think he's one of the rescued humans. That's what Hunter's perspective is for.
O5-69
501st
