As the rest of us stood around the Anhurian, with Lava and Jen by my side and Beckett, Vox, Riley, and Adelaide on the other side of Chien Binh I felt this feeling of elation, of life, or energy, I felt instantly revitalised. As we touched Anhur's brother a warm feeling came over me, but not a stifling hotness, more of a pure white light, a feeling of floating. Then along with seeing my surroundings I could also see other things, in my mind's eye. Chien Binh showed me his planet, a dark and dense world, a rush of cold came over me as I felt as if I was standing on the exoplanet Proxima B. I took a deep breath in. It felt cold. Then Chien Binh showed me his planet being invaded by these other worldly beings these tall, long limbed, and pale beings, with golden and silver like veins, with piercing eyes, and the most bedazzling eye I had ever seen, their third eye, in the middle of their heads. In that moment I realised that the sightings we had followed up on, here on earth were true, these were the beings that other humans were describing to us. I was then transported to a scene where a smaller Anhurian, accompanied by Chien Binh and other large Anhurians like Chien Binh were running at full speed towards a small aircraft. This smaller Anhurian was in fact Anhur himself, he jumped into the aircraft whilst others attempted to defend Anhur from the incoming invading species attempting to stop him from leaving. Chien Binh then showed an image of Paley, trying to convey to me that this member of his kin he was showing me was Anhur and he had managed to reach Earth, as Paley had described. Chien Binh then took my mind to a scene on a large vessel, which I assumed was the inside of the other species ship, with hundreds of Anhurians crammed in, waiting to descend to earth. He then showed me him connecting with many humans over the last seven years, including Lĕ. The scene then faded and all I could see was my surroundings again, in the cave, accompanied by my friends and our guides.
Chien Binh bowed to us and then turned to touch Lĕ's arm. Lĕ waited a few moments then nodded.
Lĕ spoke, "Chien Binh would like to introduce you to his kin, they are not far away."
Chien Binh turned his huge mass of weight and twisted towards the other side of the cave. We all followed in amazement. Jen remained speechless.
We left the sun filled opening where we had met Chien Binh and headed down another dark tunnel, clambering over rocks. It was a squeeze for the Anhurian, but he bullied his way past each rock.
We then reached an underground river, where we needed to make sure our head torches were working. There were small canoe type water vessels at the bottom of where we were walking, which were accompanied by paddles. We got into the small boats and started to paddle using the oars. Chien Binh simply waded through the water in front of us. After about ten minutes we entered an opening. The river continued to wind around to a narrower end, but we did not follow that path, we followed Chien Binh to the left instead and pulled the canoes up on the pebbly shore of white stones which were being covered by light from a crack in the cave roof above. Once again, we were stood in front of a beautifully plush jungle, hidden below the surface, with small openings above providing light for the vegetation to grow. This paradise that appeared untouched by human hands had become home to the Anhurian's that had remained on earth in 1992.
We followed Chien Binh at his calm slow pace as we made our way through trees and grassy paths until we were at an opening. Here there were five large wooden logs on their sides arranged in a hexagon shape around an area where it looked as if a fire had once been burning.
Tung spoke, "This is where we sit, when we come here."
Vű motioned for us to sit with a smile on his face, evidentially excited for there to be newcomers to this experience.
We all made ourselves comfortable and took off our back packs and head gear.
Chien Binh continued walking into the distance, through the trees and beyond our sight.
"It is OK he will return with his brothers," Lĕ reassured us.
"This place is beautiful," Kai said, taking in his surroundings.
"I can't believe we have met an Anhurian, all these years later," Paley added, seemingly astounded and ecstatic.
"How are they managing to survive in our atmosphere?" Lava asked, looking over at our guides.
Lĕ answered, "It seems that some of Chien Binh's brothers managed to overcome their breathing issues and became more accustomed to the light over time. Chien Binh has told us that they struggled to breathe at first, but as the months went by, they felt their bodies adjust and they did not have to conserve their energy as much. He also shared with us that he is now able to see in much brighter settings than on his home planet, his eyes have adjusted over the years."
Dr Derwent commented, "That is so fascinating, a very sped up process in comparison to our evolution as humans it would seem."
"I would love to find out more about the Anhurian species," Kai added looking hopefully at Lĕ.
Just then Chien Binh returned with five other Anhurians, all similar in stature, but with some being a deeper colour than others. Two had scars across their arms and face, which I guessed were either from fighting with the other species on their home planet or fighting here on Earth. They all nodded their heads in acknowledgement of us newcomers. My heart started to beat much quicker as I sat there on the large log and my hands began to feel clammy. Even though these creatures appeared to be friendly and not a threat to us, their presence alone was very intimidating due to how large they were. Each of them sat in between the gaps of the five large tree trunk logs we were sat on, all facing inwards towards the area where a fire once was. Each put a handout either side of themselves, seemingly waiting.
"All hold hands," Tung instructed, taking Kai's hand to his left and an Anhurian's hand on his right. The Ahurian's hand appeared to make Tung's hand look like a child's small five digits placed on the hand of a large rather blue mammal. We all did as we were instructed and held hands, some were human hands, others were Anhurian hands.
The experience I had next was like that when I had touched Chien Binh, the Anhurian's showed us images of their home planet and the invading species. This time I closed my eyes, as it seemed I did not need them open to connect with the others. After the Anhurian's had shared several harrowing memories, suddenly, I saw nothing, just the darkness caused by my eyelids. There came a very deep males voice, deeper than I have ever heard, with a slight twang in his accent, I was surprised and opened my eyes to try and see who was speaking. It was Chien Binh talking. I looked at the others, confused as to why Chien Binh was talking now, but had not spoken to us in the clearing. The others seemed to be thinking the same, barring Tung, Vű and Lĕ, who looked as if they were not startled by the deep voice.
Chien Binh began, "We are, what you people would perhaps, in your tongue call the Kalt-blau, but we like your name of the Anhurian, so please feel free to call us by that name," Chien Binh looked at his brothers who were all nodding in agreement. He continued, "We are thankful that we were able to take refuge here. The species that forced us here, in your earth language are the Takai-shiro, they have very powerful technology and very powerful ships."
"Anhur was trying to warn me, but he did not have enough time," Paley spoke. "We want to help you in any way that we can. I want to honour the memory of Anhur's bravery, and we are hoping that you can also help us humans," Paley added.
"We appreciate your honest words," Chien Binh replied, "And we want to help, as there is not much time."
Jen finally spoke, "Why, why is there not much time?"
"They will be here on the eve of the millennium or just after," Chien Binh replied, "They are cunning and clever and seem to have mind altering abilities."
"What type of mind-altering abilities?" Agent Vox asked.
"The Takai-shiro seem to have the ability to bend our idea of reality, of what has happened, of what has come before," Chien Binh replied, "They seem to do this in a clever way, convincing others that events did not happen the way they truly did. That is how they kept a lot of our people in a docile state whilst invading our kind, whilst preparing to use us for their war here on Earth."
"Why did they choose Earth? What do they feel is so appealing about this planet in particular?" Dr Derwent asked, curious as to why our tiny planet was being pinpointed in this way.
"I am not fully sure," Chien Binh admitted, "Perhaps the Takai-shiro feel they are the more superior race and want to colonise anywhere that they possibly can. They are like silent sly killers, what you earthlings would call birds of prey, very elegant looking, very streamlined, with their shimmering bodies. Do not underestimate this foe. They may have already been here, right under your noses."
"They have been here," Agent Riley admitted, "some of us here have been to visit those who have reported sightings of these beings."
"Then they have already pushed impressions onto mankind's minds," Chien Binh admitted, "They are preparing to come here, to land and to invade your kind."
"What type of impressions?" Lava asked.
"It will be something to do with change of some sort, and it will be predicted soon," Chien Binh answered.
"Like the rumours circulating about the 'Millennium Bug'?" Adelaide asked.
"What is that?" Chien Binh asked.
"It is a worry to do with computer systems crashing once we enter the year 2000, when we enter a new millennium. Some believe that computers will be riddle with issues, or not work at all, that there will be a big collapsing of some kind," Agent Vox explained.
"That could be related," Chien Binh stated once he had listened to Vox's very quick explanation.
"How can we possibly defend ourselves against creatures that bend the mind?" Agent Riley asked, evidentially thinking about security and combat strategies.
"There must be some way to fight it if you managed to get Anhur to earth all those years ago?" Beckett asked, looking from one Anhurian to another.
"It took the Takai-Shiro quite some time to try and fight all our kind. There were points where they gained significant control, but we would try to rise and revolt as often as possible and then regroup. We lost many brave brothers. Many of us hid underground and attacked for years at a time. We had to take certain windows of opportunity after many fights and missions to find out more about the beings that had invaded and their technology. One of those opportunities presented itself when we were able to get the one you call 'Anhur' to you," Chien Binh responded.
"Do you know how long it took for Anhur to get here? Dr Derwent asked.
Lĕ spoke, "Khôn Ngoan will know," he turned to look at an Anhurian with a scar across his very broad left shoulder and several bullet shape wounds across his chest.
Khôn Ngoan began to speak, again with a deep voice. He started to speak in Vietnamese and Tung had to remind his to speak in English. Khôn Ngoan nodded and started speaking again, but in English this time, "Well from my calculations it took 4.25 years to get here, to Earth from Proxima B."
"That would mean you were travelling at the speed of light!" Jen exclaimed in seeming amazement.
"So, you sent Anhur to earth, in earth years in about 1958?" Paley asked.
"From my projections, I would answer yes to both of your questions," Khôn Ngoan replied.
"So, you had fought them for over forty years?" Vox asked in amazement.
"And so far, we still have not won," Chien Binh admitted, taking in a deep breathe, there was a sadness in his voice.
A third Anhurian spoke, "The Taki-Shiro have taken so much from us. All we have ever wanted to do was protect our kin and live a good life, on our home planet. We are fighters when needed, and yes, we defended ourselves, but we did not deserve this, our brothers did not deserve this. We are strong; our skin and our minds, but you, you humans are soft and fragile, I predict that many of you will die very quickly."
"Let us not alarm our guests Dòn Roi," Khôn Ngoan replied.
"Vű has told me you have strong weapons," Chien Binh added, "These could be very useful. We do not have any of these weapons on Proxima B."
"Some weapons could destroy humankind too, we must be careful," Dr Derwent added, "We cannot be using atom bombs to take out the enemy, we would be taking out ourselves along with them."
"We need to know what will penetrate their ships and what will penetrate their skin," Beckett added.
"Did you manage to kill any and find their weak spots?" Agent Riley asked, looking to Chien Binh for answers.
"Ripping out their mắt," Dòn Roi quickly responded.
"Yes, detaching them from their third eye," Khôn Ngoan added, "Which is no mean feat, as that means you must be up close and personal, well for an Anhurian at least. Perhaps with your human weapons you can take a different approach."
Paley spoke next, "Anything you can help us with is greatly appreciated. As you know, we need all the help we can get. Your four decades of knowledge is invaluable to us humans. You are right we are soft and brittle beings in comparison to you Dòn Roi and we appreciate your honest opinions. And thank you Chien Binh for trusting us newcomers. And thank you also Tung, Lĕ and Vű."
Riley looked to Chien Binh, "We would like to get you to a more accessible location if possible?" Riley added, getting straight down to business, "Especially if we have very limited time to work with."
"Well, that depends on our safety," Chien Binh responded.
"We do not wish to act in haste, I am sure you can understand that after the events of 1992?" Khôn Ngoan added.
"Very well, I understand. Perhaps we can set up some sort of satellite phone usage in the first instance?" Agent Riley added, seemingly brainstorming on the spot, "Tung, Lĕ and Vű you will be invaluable to our efforts."
Tung, Lĕ and Vű gave a slight bow in recognition of Riley's words.
We sat there talking for so long that darkness descended, and Lĕ started a fire to keep us warm. The Anhurian's brought more wood when it was needed, to add to the fire. In the end we had to stay the evening rather than risk the climb back up to the surface with limited light. Tung, Lĕ and Vű took us to an area of the forest where there were tarpaulins set up and ground sheets on the floor for us to sleep. It was very hard to sleep through the night and I was sure I had seen every hour before the next morning. After breakfast it was time to say farewell to Chien Binh and his kin and we headed back the way we came with Lĕ, Tung and Vű. Everyone made sure their climbing equipment and helmets were back on securely before we stepped back into the small canoes and paddles back the way we had come, through the underground stream we had taken to get to the Anhurian's home.
We had to work our arms a little harder with the paddles on the return up the underground stream as the current was against us this time. After exiting the canoes, we made the journey back through the courtyard where we met Chien Binh and up the inclines, with everyone making their way through the tight gaps between the rocks where needed. Finally, we reached the wall of rock that required us to make the climb with the ropes, led by our guides. I could feel a quiet ache progressively making itself known up my legs by the time we reached the Jeeps that had brought us to the site.
The ride back to our hotel apartments was quiet, well we were all quiet in the Jeep I was in anyway. Everyone seemed to be equally exhausted from the events of the last 48 hours. When we returned to the reception area of the hotel apartment complex, Agent Riley asked if Lĕ, Tung and Vű were able to stay with us all into the evening. Lĕ agreed that the three men would return by 7pm to speak about the 'next steps' of our new working relationship with the Anhurian's, once they had returned home to their families and freshened up. The rest of us did the same, taking the few hours we had to wash and change, and where needed, take a nap after a disturbed night sleeping outdoors.
After I felt refreshed and ready, I headed to Riley and Vox's apartments living room- where we had all agreed to meet- the door to their apartment was already open. I made my way inside and scanned the beautiful open space of the living room, which had inside a small round coffee table, surrounded by four sofas, creating a perfect symmetry in the middle of the room. There was a huge mirror on the west wall and a fabulous view to the north, with doors that were opened onto a slightly raise balcony area outside.
"Hello," I called, wondering if anyone was around or if Vox and Riely were perhaps sleeping or taking a quick shower. I caught a glimpse of some movement in the corner of my eye and realise that I had seen someone's reflection in the large mirror. I quickly looked over to the east side of the room and saw Paley stood at a small decanter set next to the sideboard, which had on its top a very unusual small marble figure for decoration. Paley looked up at me as he finished pouring himself a drink.
"Ah A.J., you are an eager early bird come to catch the worm like I am. I see we are both eager to hear more from our guides in this meeting," Paley said as he turned with his glass of whisky in hand, with two large blocks of ice accompanying the brown liquid. The decanter on the sideboard looked like a very impressive thick glass contained as did the thick stumpy glass that Paley was nursing in his hand.
"Yes, it would seem so," I answered, "I am eager to talk about what we can do going forward. We have waited seven years for answers after all," I added with a smile.
"Yes, yes, quite right. It has been a long time hasn't it, I suppose you could say we have been waiting a combination of my thirty-seven years plus your seven years of waiting. So, an awfully long time if we are measuring by an average human lifetime," Paley replied.
"Hello," came a third voice.
It was Adelaide making her way through the open door that I had walked through moments earlier.
"Hi Adelaide, how are you. Are you feeling okay since our climb in and out of the caves?" I asked.
"Hi A.J. Yes, thank you, thankfully I am feeling fine," Adelaide replied.
"Adi is a great walker," Paley added, "We love our countryside walks, don't we?" he asked turning to face Adelaide.
"Yes indeed," Adelaide answers, adding "should you be starting to drink already dear; don't you want to have a sharp mind for this meeting with Tung, Lĕ and Vű?"
"Ah yes Adi dear, I will pace myself," Paley replied moving over to Adelaide and caressing her arm in a loving and reassuring manner.
"Should we take a seat on the balcony whilst we wait? It is a lovely view," Adelaide suggested.
Just then we heard one of the showers running in the apartment and assumed either Vox or Riely was freshening up.
The three of us each took a seat on the balcony, not seeming too worried about where Vox and Riley were at that moment in time. We sat and talked a little more about Anhur and the years after 1962 but prior to 1992, before me and Mayola had made our way into the picture. Finally, we were interrupted by Riley and Vox who joined us on the balcony for a while before Kai, Lava, Dr Derwent, Beckett, and Jen made their way into the apartment.
Riley then ushered us all inside, we all sat around on the sofas in the living room, with the breeze making its way through the open balcony doors, through to the – still open- front door.
"When are Tung and the others getting here?" Beckett asked Vox. Vox looked at his watch. "They should be here in 20 minutes," he replied.
"Ah. Not long to wait then," Paley responded.
We spent the next twenty-five minutes talking about the events of the day before and what we had all observed and spoken about. I always found this to be a fascinating occurrence as one person's perspective or interpretation of events can be so different to your own. And people can pick up on small gestures or phrases that you did not pay much attention to.
Once the twenty-five-minute wait for Lĕ, Tung and Vű had passed, the men made their way through the front door into the living room, and each took a seat.
"I will bring us some table water in," Riely added, quickly going out of the room, and coming back with jugs of water and small glasses for everyone.
"Thanks, I'm parched," Jen answered as she shifted forward on the sofa to perch on the end, pouring herself a glass before pushing herself back against the back rest of the sofa again.
Dr Derwent did the same and poured water for himself, Lava, and Adelaide.
"There are things we need to explain to you, that were not explained last night," Tung spoke.
"What things?" Kai asked with intrigue.
Tung looked to Lĕ and Lĕ spoked, "Well, when you were 'connected' with Chien Binh, and he shared imprints of images with you and information of his kin there was a sharing of energies. From our experience, since we had our initial 'connection' with Chien Binh, we have not aged, if anything we are all stronger and healthier."
"You don't age?" Jen asked in amazement after she quickly gulped down a mouthful of water.
"It does not appear so," Vű added.
"Are there any bad side effects?" Beckett asked, seeming a little concerned.
"No, not that we have experienced," Tung answered casually, "And if anything, you are probably less likely to experience any unintended bad side effects as Chien Binh has had time to perfect his craft of inter-species communication".
Beckett gave out a long breathe, pushing air out of his tightly pursed lips, contemplating Tung's words.
"Do the Anhurian's feels our emotions and see our memories when we connect?" Dr Derwent asked, seemingly fascinated by the information exchange.
"We have not managed to share information with them in the same manner that they can with us, apart from Paley here," Lĕ admitted "But now they have learnt earth languages we can communicate with them just as you and I would, like we are now, in this room."
"Perhaps one day sharing our memories in the same way could be a possibility for all of us. Nothing would surprise me now," Kai added with an optimistic smile.
"Ah well I will not grumble about feeling more of a spring in my step and a newfound vitality," Paley commented, seemingly happy with what Lĕ, Tung and Vű were divulging so far.
"Chien Binh and his men trust us. And now we are also trusting you with protecting their lives and believing that you will only share information with a select few that can be relied upon," Vű admitted.
"You have our word," Riley answered, very sternly and sincerely, reading the importance of Vű's words. Vű nodded in acknowledgment of Riley's words.
"To use your naming of Chien Binh's kind, the Anhurian's are unsure as to whether they may be other pockets of Anhurian's also hiding in areas like caves or mountainous ranges. Other may have managed to somehow adapt quickly or possess the qualities they do that have meant they have been able to survive on earth when other Anhurian's have not. It would help if we were able to aid Chien Binh and his brothers in their search by using the equipment and trustworthy people at your disposal Agent Vox and Agent Riley," Tung added.
"And Officer Beckett may be able to help there as well," Vox added, looking to Beckett.
Beckett nodded and added a quick, "Yes."
"Do you think we will be able to take the Anhurian's safely to the UK at some point?" Jen asked, looking from Tung, Riley, and Vox, waiting for a response.
Tung responded first, "As you heard from Chien Binh, they are not eager to move anytime soon. If they do move countries, it will have to be a well-planned move."
"We can work on that," Riley added, "We can get our best people in logistics on to the case, I have a number of international connections."
"I am working on getting the right equipment delivered here before we leave to go back to England," Vox added, looking to Lĕ as he spoke.
"We should be able to take it to the Anhurian base, as long as it cannot be tracked by any unwanted third parties," Lĕ explained.
"It will be state of the art tech, we won't have anyone being able to track the equipment or interfere with our line of communication," Vox replied.
"Well, as long as the communication equipment is not hacked by the Takai-shiro," Vű added, "As it would appear they are able to manipulate whatever or whoever they please."
"Yes, we need to have our wits about us, and question all that we think to be 'truth'", Lĕ admitted.
"That may be more difficult than it first appears," Dr Derwent replied, "As a lot of our communication is going to have to be via technology and cannot be face to face if we need to speak promptly, as we will be scattered across different continents when fighting the Takai-shiro."
"That is true. We need to make sure we do not become lazy and complacent in our efforts now we have found the Anhurian's," Kai said as he looked to Dr Derwent.
The conversation continued and Lĕ shared with us potential locations where other Anhurian's could possibly be hiding, and agreed to share devices with the Anhurian's quickly, as well as agreeing to keep some communication equipment himself, so our team could contact him when needed and vis versa.
The clock read almost midnight by the time Lĕ, Tung and Vű left the hotel grounds. We were all exhausted and headed to our respective beds for a well needed good night sleep despite the sticky humid air.
We returned to the UK two days later, once all the relevant equipment had been sourced and given to Tung, Vű and Lĕ.
In the few months that followed, edging us further towards the millennium we all spent a great deal of time together in London, working covertly to check potential Anhurian locations and to find out about any other sightings or visits from the Takai-shiro.
New information was hard to find, and we were not having any luck in finding anymore Anhurian's. However, it was clear that the Takai-shiro, like Chien Binh had stated, were trying to infiltrate the minds of the masses, to the point where they seemed to be hiding in plain sight, laughing at human ignorance, which was evident in the subliminal messaging they were sending through the mass media, with the release of films such as 'The Matrix' being one way they showed their hand with no ramifications for them whatsoever.
As a team we had to avoid letting these secret messages of war 'psych' us out. We had to focus on the task at hand. The Takai-shiro were coming and we had to accept that. We had to work against the clock to be as prepared as we could.