Excerpt of Transplanted by Joy V. Smith

"From the flyover, it looks like the 3,000 acre campus is now a dead or dying swamp. It hasn't looked this bad since the days of the drought," Callahan said. The California Highway Patrol captain glanced at the FBI representative. "We'll go in with dogs as soon as the perimeter tests are done, but I don't smell any bodies. It's as if the campus was erased‑‑or something."

"We can't hide this from the press any longer. Too many people are trying to get in touch with students and staff. I don't know what to say to their families, and I suspect that it will be blamed on aliens. I would if I could," the FBI agent responded. Behind the uniforms and men in suits were helicopters, jeeps, and trucks. The milling investigators, including the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, were curious and cautious. And behind the barriers parents were beginning to accumulate.

Nodding in their direction, Callahan added, They're coming for a week long event of horse and livestock shows and a reunion. Is that connected somehow?"

"Or was it the tremors we've had this past week?" the FBI agent asked.