Chapter 12 Confrontation Following the death of team member 308, the Ebens took control of the body without explanation. Upon arrival, the team commander requested the body of 308 and was told that was not possible. In this diary entry, the commander relates how his attempt to retrieve the body escalated into a tense confrontation. The Body of Team Member 308 The leader of the Ebens is a larger creature than the others. He is more aggressive and seems to be the boss, similar to me, as the team commander. The leader has requested many things from us, most of which we have provided. However, they took 308''s body--that was without my approval. When we finally learned the location of 308''s body and traveled to the building where it was stored, we were confronted by several Ebens.

Ebe1 showed up, and I explained that we wanted the body of 308. Ebe1 told us the body was in storage, and we could not take it. We told Ebe1 that we will take it. The eleven of us walked by the Ebens, numbering six, and walked into the building. They did not attempt to stop us. Once inside, we could not open any of the containers. We did find the container housing 308''s body. We decided to send 899 to our storage area to get some explosives to open the container.

Ebe2 showed up with the leader. Ebe2 was extremely polite and asked us to wait. She used the word "please" several times. In fact, she actually used the English word "beg." We backed off and I told Ebe2 that we wanted our friend''s body and we wanted to examine it. Ebe2 translated that to the leader. There was a long exchange of words between the two. Finally, Ebe2 told us that the leader would like us to go to another location and speak with another Eben, a doctor, about the body of 308.

Ebe2 explained that everything we wanted to know about 308''s body would be explained to us by the doctor. I told Ebe2 that I would leave 899 and 754 here to guard the body. Ebe2 translated that to the leader. Again, there was a long, drawn-out exchange of words. Finally, Ebe2 stated that the leader would like all of us to leave this building and go to visit with the doctor. I told Ebe2, no, I would not leave the body of 308. I felt that this was going to be a confrontation. I told 518 and 420 to go back, obtain our handguns and come back ASAP.

I was not going to allow the Ebens to countermand my decisions. When Ebe2 heard this, she told me to wait and placed her hand against my chest. I told her to translate that to the leader. Again, there were several minutes of word exchanges between the two. Ebe2 then stated that the leader would bring the doctor here. Ebe2 asked me to please don''t send your men for guns. Guns are not needed, we can settle this without guns. Please don''t.

I told Ebe2 that we would not get the guns but we would not leave until we saw 308''s body. About 20 minutes later, three Ebens showed up inside this building. One of the Ebens identified himself as a doctor. This doctor told us that 308''s body was not inside the container. The Ebens have done experiments with 308''s body, because they considered it an honor to have such a specimen to work with. The doctor told us they have used 308''s body to create a type of cloned human being. I stopped the doctor at this point. I told the doctor that the body of my teammate was the property of the United States of America, planet Earth.

The body did not belong to the Ebens, and I did not authorize any experiments on the body of 308. I explained that humans consider a body to be religious. I demanded to see the body. This doctor explained the body was gone and that all the blood and organs were taken out and used to clone other beings. The word "beings" really scared me and the others. 899 became extremely angry. He called the doctor curse names. I ordered 899 to be quiet.

I then told 203 to take 899 out of the building. I realized this matter could really blossom into a major incident. I could not allow that to happen. There were just eleven of us and we realized that if the Ebens wanted to imprison us or kill us, they could do it very easily. But I didn''t think the Ebens would resort to such behavior. I was not going to allow this incident to advance into something worse. I realized there wasn''t much we could do about what the Ebens have done with 308''s body. Ebe2 looked upset.

Ebe2 told me that everyone should be nice; she repeated the word "nice" many times. Ebe2 did not want this matter to escalate. I felt sorry for Ebe2. She was trying to mediate the matter. 203 suggested we return to our living quarters and have a team meeting. I told the leader that I did not want any further experiments with whatever is left of 308''s body. I pointed my finger toward the leader''s face. Ebe2 translated.

Ebe2 then told me the leader was concerned that we were upset and promised that nothing further would happen. I thanked Ebe2 and had her relay that to the leader. We returned to our huts. Everyone was upset, especially 899. I told each member to calm down. We did not come forty light-years to start a war with the Ebens. A war we could not win. We have to realize our situation and act accordingly.

I ordered each member to accept the facts about 308''s body.