"Do You See What I See?"

"Do You See What I See"? © 2018 / 2022 This unique story will appeal to teenagers, everyone that was ever a teenager, U.F.O. buffs and fans of the 1970's era. The story's central date coincides with the actual historic date that President Nixon was in Moscow, one day ahead of a scheduled conference with Premier Brezhnev. Nixon met with Brezhnev in the Kremlin's equivalent of the Oval Office. No one knows what was actually discussed and no other American president has ever been invited to the executive Russian office. May 1972, two teenage boys John and Mark decide to hitchhike west. Ninety-eight other American teenagers are also compelled to travel to the center of the country – fifty boys and fifty girls; a similar occurrence is happening in Russia. President Nixon and Premier Brezhnev have been visited by the "Others", aliens that will not tolerate many more nuclear explosions, for testing or otherwise. The world leaders have one week to comply with the Others demands, or a plague will descend and kill every human on Earth, it's said to have been done before. The Others demands are threefold – to reduce nuclear arsenals and testing, to deliver 100 young adults from the U.S.A. and Russia, and for both countries to cooperate with one another. The task is dubbed Project Noah's Ark. General Brandon is chosen by Nixon to head the American side, Brandon will be forced to trust his instincts and his personal assistant, Captain Duffy, to make difficult decisions. Colonel Nikolai will lead the Russian operation. Nikolai is not at all pleased with the mission and is convinced that the Americans are running an elaborate ploy to weaken Russia; he will not allow it. Curtis Knapp is the Assistant Director of the Department of Defense, and he has never been able to escape his suicidal thoughts. After being briefed on the matter, Curtis is struck with a compelling idea for a perfect suicide. He can check out and take every other asshole on Earth with him. All he has to do is, make sure the operation does not go smoothly. Ivan and Victor are the Russian spies assigned to General Brandon's team; they are recalled by Colonel Nikolai and forced to defect. Colonel Nikolai and Curtis Knapp are not the only complications to Project Noah's Ark. For John and Mark, strange and dark feelings begin to develop while they are on a bridge – outside Omaha, Nebraska. After a few wild rides, the boys are left stranded on a deserted swamp road; then, suddenly, the road is no longer deserted. They are surrounded by police, subjected to testing, and are integrated. Eventually, John and Mark are released and ominously told to "walk that way". The boys do as they are told and walk directly into Betty and Sandy – two teenage girls who are running away from men who want to enslave them. The four teens quickly become two couples, with a shared goal – to get "there", wherever "there" is. The two couples are drawn to a railroad yard, then to a caboose where they meet four more teenage travelers, Walt, Louise, Brownie, and Christine.