The alien was about to use the three bladed tool when a series of snaps sounded. It reminded me of someone sending Morse code. Turning around, the alien departed with the menacing instrument to attend to whatever had called it away.

The crystal arches lit up again, blinding me in a camera flash of unexpected intensity. When my vision cleared, I was back in my car on the road where it had all started. I could move again and quickly checked where I had been impaled by the crystal icicles, but I didn't find a mark or even a hole in my clothes. The motor started up without trouble when I turned the ignition.

I was about to dismiss the whole incident as the addled mind of a person desperately in need of sleep when four unmarked cars of gleaming black pulled up around my vehicle and stopped. Men in dark suits and darker sunglasses climbed out and approached.

"Special Agent Jones," the lead man reported, holding up a badge. "Would you come with us?"

I'll never know why, other than for the sake of standard procedure, government agents show their badges and ID's because how many untrained civilians could spot a fake one if asked?

Anyway, the suits didn't wait for my answer, opening the driver's side door and pulling me out. I was unceremoniously shoved into the back of one of their cars, muscle-bound agents getting in on either side of me. Before I could see where I was going, a black hood was put over my head and secured around my neck. Any attempt I made to remove the hood was countered by the agents flanking me. I had the distinct impression I was being captured again rather than escorted to safety.

I had no choice but to wait and see how things would unfold.

***

The agents drove for some time, possibly to be certain they weren't being followed or simply to confuse me to the point I wouldn't know where they had taken me. Eventually, they arrived at their destination, and I was muscled out of the car.

We passed across gravel and into a building with a hard floor, but because of the hood, I couldn't see whether the floor was tile or bare concrete. A door opened, and after a few more steps, I was pushed down into a hard metal chair. The door slammed, and the hood was pulled off.

The room where they had dropped me off was bare, gray concrete. A single rectangle window of one-way, mirrored glass in front of me was the only deviation in the solid walls I could find, and the steel table and matching chairs were the only furnishings.

Agent Jones sat down in front of me with his back to the mirrored glass. His eyes were concealed behind his black sunglasses, and his expression was unreadable.

"Mr. Gibson," Jones began, folding his hands on the cold steel of the table. "What can you tell me about your experience tonight?"

"Why?" I asked on return. Government agencies were known for keeping secrets in regard to the existence and visitation of alien life. Considering they'd kidnapped me, taken me to a secret location, and only my captors knew I was even there, I had to be very careful what I said or they could simply make me disappear.

"We are concerned for your welfare," Jones replied. "Additionally, we're interested in how your experience may affect the citizens of this great nation if your story were to circulate."

I understood what Jones was after. He wanted to know if I'd talk to anyone about the existence of aliens if they decided to let me go. They knew aliens existed; they knew I'd been taken, but they didn't want the truth. They wanted my silence.

A sudden thought came to my mind. How did the agents show up so fast when the aliens put me back in my car? Had they been tracking the ship responsible for stealing me away or were they in communication with the aliens?

I looked suspiciously at Jones, staring hard at the dark sunglasses, and I noticed a faint glow of blue through the tinted material. It was in that horrifying moment I realized the truth. They weren't covering for the aliens; they were the aliens, and I'd been captured for a second time.

It took all the control I possessed to keep my face from revealing I knew the truth. I was more certain than ever I'd never leave the room alive if I opposed them, so I told the alien agent what he wanted to hear. I denied everything and said I dozed off and had a weird dream. They believed me enough to turn me loose, but after the agents returned me to my car, I noticed an unmarked vehicle following me at a distance as I finally reached the roadside motel where I had been staying before this whole thing started.

During the night, I slipped out the back of the motel and started running. I've been able to stay a step ahead of my pursuers, but they haven't given up the chase. I know it's only a matter of time before they do finally catch up with me, so I need to finish this.

It's been almost two years since that night, but I haven't been idle. I've learned and investigated everything related to aliens and government conspiracies in the hope of finding something we could use to drive the aliens away, but what I discovered was worse than I ever imagined.

As far as I've been able to determine, the aliens have been amongst us for decades, perhaps longer, and they've got their hooks in deep. Allow me to explain the magnitude of our problems and see if you agree.

When the United States first became a nation, the Founding Fathers separated the powers of the states from the federal government in order to fend off possible corruption. The only way bad people could take over the entire country was to control every state along with the federal government as well, making it exceedingly difficult and requiring vast numbers of the corrupt. In recent years, have you noticed the shift toward the federal government gaining all the power and imposing its will on the states? This is the aliens at work, consolidating their authority. Once the federal government has control of the states, there will be fewer strings needing to be pulled.

Notice also how the government has positioned itself in recent years. They've taken over banks, given them legal access to mortgages and allowing them to foreclose on and seize anyone's home at any time should the need arise. If that doesn't work, they can also rely on imminent domain to get the job done. The government has also taken control of car industries, given them the ability to repossess vehicles and limit the mobility and transportation capability of its citizens.

Furthermore, the government has started getting involved in the healthcare system. Now, they're gaining control over the medicine needed by people to survive, and everyone had better do as they're told, or they won't get their pills.

Are you aware of the number of people with smartphones? Take a look around some time; it's a terrifying thing. Location services allows you to always find where you are and where you need to go. Convenient, isn't it? It also allows whoever has control to track the holder of the phone wherever they go at any time.

In the name of security, they have thumbprint scanners to make certain the right person is using the phone. But, to verify the print, there has to be a master file for comparison. Everyone who has such a scanner on their phone has been fingerprinted and GPS tagged. By correlating location data of multiple people, you can monitor who is meeting with whom and where it's taking place, ensuring no one can conspire against the aliens without their knowledge.

Security systems for people's houses allow the homeowner to monitor the interior by way of a remote security camera, and even unlock doors with the press of a touchscreen. The aliens are controlling such things. They watch when your kids get home, knowing when they're alone, and they can get to them or you with the press of a single touchscreen command.

Who do you think invented such radically advanced technology? We've become so dependent on such things, tying everything in our lives to these phones. What will happen when the aliens take control of them? Will we have any life left? They've created technological shackles, and we willing put our hands into them!

The F117 stealth fighter was originally test flown out of Area 51. I'll give you three guesses where its technological innovations came from. We have recently been using in greater numbers unmanned drones armed with cameras and weapons. By themselves, the drones and stealth fighters seem just like ordinary pieces of advanced military hardware, but they're more like pieces to the puzzle, and I've discovered how they fit.

Imagine the devastating possibilities if stealth fighters were able to become remote controlled drones. Fleets of virtually invisible aircraft controlled not by human pilots but by aliens. This is their plan. When the alien ships are detected, the tech will be unveiled and distributed worldwide for "global defense", but the aircraft produced by the militaries of the world will be under the command of our conquers, not us. The fly isn't supposed to help the spider build its web, but we are, even now!

I can hear them pounding on my door. They've come for me, and my story is ending. Where it goes from here is up to you, Mr. Gray, you and your listeners. You have to get the word out!

Many won't believe, and it's because the government had been very good at muddying the waters. They know they can't destroy the truth, so they flood the area around it with lies intentionally designed to be discovered as fabrications. In this way, people become accustomed to rejecting such stories outright, so when they actually hear the truth, they don't listen to it and simply disregard it along with the rest.

Now that they've come for me, they'll be looking for you as well. The aliens will trace this email or your radio broadcasts. One way or another, they will try to silence you too. Don't let them, Mr. Gray! Spread the truth far and wide, loud enough to be heard above the lies trying to choke it into silence.

Many like myself will be lost in this fight, but if we reach enough of the people with the truth and move against the enemy before their noose tightens around us, it will not have been in vain. I don't know if we're in time to make a difference, but we have to try, regardless of the outcome, as the future of the human species depends upon it.

There may yet be hope for humanity. God help us.