Neo Chronicles: Black Void
Episode 02: Aliens in my Backyard
Table of Contents
((Opening Theme))
You see it too, right? I'm not imagining it? This isn't a dream?
I'm staring out the back window of my house. It's pitch black outside. Looks foggy out there, too. Hard to see anything, but I definitely see something. My mind instantly goes to spaceship. I have no idea why. A spaceship would be crazy. Why would anything from all the way up there choose to land here of all places? It can't be a spaceship.
But what if it is?
What if we're being invaded, and I'm earth's first line of defense? That thought excites me. It's a terrifying thought, but I'm excited over it all the same. Me and it. Me and the fate of the whole world. Oh shoot. Oh dang. Am I gonna have to save the world?
A'ight now, reel it back in.
All this fog. All this black. All I can make out from where I'm looking is that there's a big something in my backyard. I think I can see lights, but other than a rough form, I got nothing to go on.
I step away from the window and look up at the ceiling. I guess I'm looking for inspiration? I don't know why I'm looking up. Think. Whatever that thing is, it's definitely out there, and it definitely shouldn't be. I've had dreams like this before. What did I do in them? How am I sure this isn't a dream right now? I'm thinking. Is that a sign? I think therefore I am? But don't I think in my dreams, too?
I pinch my arm.
It feels like I pinched my arm. If this were a dream, wouldn't I imagine myself being pinched?
Reel it back in.
I need to figure out what that thing is, and I'm not gonna figure it out standing here inside. So I walk to the back door, open it, and step into the black.
Dang it's cold out. I shoulda got a jacket. These pajamas I'm wearing ain't gonna cut it. Should I? Shouldn't I? Nah, let's go. I step into the black. The cold strikes me to the bone. I can take it. I'm strong. I walk slowly towards the fog. My guard is up. I done seen enough martial arts movies to pick up a few things. My guard is up, and I'm ready for anything.
The closer I get, the bigger the thing gets. I see the form taking shape behind the fog. It's big. No, big is underselling it. It's huge. Is it a tank? Is it a house? My mind goes back to spaceship, not for some childhood fantasy type thing, but because that's the only thing I can think of to describe it. If it wasn't a spaceship, it'd be some giant building type thing. One story high. Super wide.
Something on it moves. In front of me, I see some sort of hatch open up, like an airplane door. What are those called? Plug doors? I wouldn't know. Whatever that door thing is, it's freakin' me out. I'm kinda scared. Nah, ain't no “kinda” in it. I'm scared. All that talk about saving the world? Shoot, someone else can do it. I should about face an' head right back to my bed an' sleep the night away. I should. I would. I will.
But I can't.
My legs won't let me. My feet keep walking towards it. It feels like I'm under some TP's mind control, 'cept the one controllin' my mind is me. Somethin' in me wants me to keep goin'. I'm not adventurous. I don't like surprises, but for some reason I wanna see where this goes.
So I keep walkin'. My guard's still up. I'm braced for anything. Whoever or whatever's about to come out – there we go.
A figure emerges. I make my way to the door, and the figure is standing in front of me. It's tall. I'm disappointed that it's not some silver, bald headed dude on a surfboard. I'm disappointed that it's not some blue and gold man with a bucket for a helmet. I'm disappointed that it's not someone in a green and black suit with a glowing, green ring on his finger or a black and blue beetle lookin' thing. Now, I say disappointed, but I think the word I'm searching for is “relieved.” If it was any of those things, I'd be in trouble. No way I could take those dudes in a fight, but this guy right here? This tall, bulky, dark blue skinned, whale-faced looking golem right here?
He doesn't stand a chance.
“What up?” I say.
The words come naturally. I'm pretty sure that's an alien, and I'm pretty sure that's his spaceship, and the only thing on my mind now is carrying a conversation with him.
“My name is Darius. Welcome to planet Earth.”
The thing looks at me weird. Is that a weird look for it? It doesn't have hair on its face, but it's two black beads seem to act like eyes, and whatever facial expressions it makes seem to be in line with regular folk.
“Why have you come?” I ask. “Do you plan to enslave us? Is there an alien armada waitin' for your word? What's your deal?”
Either he's ignoring me or he doesn't understand me. I'm gonna guess it's both. Unless the dude's a TP, he ain't got no way to understand Earth language. There's not even an “Earth” language to understand. We still got different people speakin' in different tongues.
So now what? Do we jus' stand here lookin' at each other? He seems to have lost interest. He walks past me and stares out at the night sky, which looks like you imagine: big, black, open. The fog makes it hard to see any stars. I hear the giant—what is he, eight, nine feet—mumble something to himself.
“I'd take you to my leader,” I say to him, “but chances are my mom would get mad. It is kinda late.”
He pays no mind to what I'm saying. I know he doesn't care, but just the act of me talking to him sorta grounds this experience for me. I see him look at different points, like he's searching for a certain land mark—land mark?—Sky mark. He's probably lost.
I walk up to him. Then I walk around him. He finally takes the time out to notice me.
“I'm going back inside now,” I say. “Please don't blow up the world.”
And that's the end of it. My first alien encounter and nothing happened. I walk back towards the house, turn my back to get one last glimpse, and then – wait, what?
I turn my back for one second—just a second—and the thing is gone. The thing, the ship, the alien, it's all gone. I don't know if I should be relieved or terrified. I'm tired though. My mind is on some other type stuff right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if I hallucinated the whole thing. Couldn't hallucinate this cold, though.
Whatever the case, I head back inside, walk right back upstairs, plop straight in the bed, and fall asleep instantly.
The next thing I hear—and this is the following morning—is the sound of Jade banging on my bedroom door.
“Darius, get up! We're running late!” she shouts.
I moan. I turn over in my sheets. I fall out the bed. Then I sit straight up. The sun's peaking through my window shades. It's a new day. It's an ordinary day. I know it's ordinary because everything is as it should be. I'm up. My sister's up. We're running late. These are the things you can count on.
Everyone in the house is rushing: to the bathroom, to the kitchen, to the car.
“Did you take out the garbage?” Mom asks.
Now I'm rushing inside to collect the garbage: garbage in the kitchen, garbage in my room, Jade's room, mom's room, the bathrooms. I take the trash to the garbage can out back. Everything about this day is typical. Friday, October 13, 3000. Nothing odd or out of place. Nothing except that.
All it takes is a glance—a passing glance—to my backyard to tell me that this day might not be so ordinary after all. There it sits in all of its grand luxury, just like how it was last night.
There's still a spaceship in my backyard.
And then there's not.
The moment was so brief, I thought it was just my imagination. Then it dawns on me.
“Cloaker.”
It makes sense. The ship's got a cloaker. It's there. It's been there in that same spot. It's just been invisible. A'ight den. I guess that's where it'll stay for now. I got school to get to.
And in the next few minutes, that's exactly where I'm at. Jade got dropped off first, then me. Like I said, we're late, but that's expected. That's normal. I say bye to my mom and rush inside the school. My class is on the second floor. I can't be bothered with anything else right now. In spite of what's waiting for me at home, the only thing that needs to happen is me gettin' to class, and goin' about my day.
I run up the stairs. I bob and weave through the crowd. I'm not the only one in a rush, but I'm the only one that matters. I see the classroom in my sights. Just a few more steps an' we're home free. I hear the tardy bell ring, but I'm so close, I might still actually make it.
“DJ!”
A voice calls out. It startles me for a second. I know it's directed at me, and I got a pretty good idea where it's coming from.
“Chris?” I turn around and see that blue haired, Afro-Mexican-American boy dressed in his usual black and grey.
I don't need this conversation right now. I don't want. But Chris is my dude, so I guess I'll have it.
“No,” he says. “Not 'Chris,' Nexus. You're supposed to call me Nexus.”
That's the new thing he's on now. His full name's Christophe. Everyone's been calling him Chris, because that's just the name you call him. It's simple, it's to the point, but it's been getting on his nerves for a while. There's way too many Chris's in the world. He doesn't wanna be part of them. He wants to stand out. So now he's tryna get folks to call him Nexus.
Nexus. What does that even mean? I doubt he even knows.
The convo starts off like you're everyday chitchat. We catch up, but you know me. I hate chitchat, so I move on to some more important type stuff. Somethin' with meaning. Somethin' worthwhile.
“I done saw a spaceship.”
He's taken by surprise. His first response is to ask if I'm currently sane. Expected. Then he gets intrigued by the prospect, and asks if he can come see it.
“Sure,” I say. “Come over.”
We part ways soon after that, and I make my graceful approach to class.
In there, I spot my other dude, Noah. Dressed in two—three—shades of blue, short afro all nappy lookin'—oh, I'm sorry—unkempt. All and all, the dude's lazily put together. Such a bum, but, hey, at least he's on time.
He looks my way and gives me that look: that smirk that says it all. “Late again? You just never learn.” Whatever doe. After first period ends, we catch up. He's into the same nerdy stuff I'm into. The comics that came out, the latest episode of that cartoon we're both into. And then he moves on to somethin' else, somethin' unexpected.
“So there's this girl,” he says.
“Who?”
“Marie.”
“Word?”
“And this other girl, and I think Jamal—y'know Kai—is gonna be mad at me.”
“Fo'real?”
“Yeah, I'll tell you later.”
Well dang. But that's Noah for ya. Always into somethin'. Got so caught up with that, I didn't even get the chance to tell him 'bout my night. Ah well. He can find out about aliens later.
So that's how my day started. Fast forward seven hours ahead, and we get to how it ends. School lets out. People rush home. It's Friday. The weekend has officially started. The only thing on my mind is my next move with it. You know – it. The thing. I don't know what it's here for. I don't know what it's gonna do, but I'm gonna find out. Somehow I am.
Back at home, I'm sitting in my room, rocking back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. Chris said he'd be here, but it's comin' up on five o'clock now, and I'm losing patience. Knowing him, he forgot anyway. I'm about to go out back and investigate the ship without him.
But is that the smart thing?
I guess I could call him. Not even him, I could call everyone: Lynn, Kai, Noah. It's not like they're doin' anything important. Certainly not anything as important as this.
I know what I'll do.
I run by my mom and ask her if I can go over Chris's house. Normally she's deadset against me going anywhere outside the house, and I'm okay with that. But since she knows Chris and I know Chris and she knows Chris's mom, there's a mutual understanding here. She gives the okay, and I head outside.
I start down the sidewalk, then stop and look back. I'm standing for probably a good five minutes, then I just walk to the backyard. Forget Chris. He's jus' gon' have ta miss out.
The ship's still cloaked, but I know it's there. I make my way closer to where I remember it being and place my hand out there. It looks like I'm just touching thin air, but I feel it. I definitely feel it. Then I see something open. It looks like the sky opens up in front of me, but I'm sure it's just the ship's hatch.
Without even thinking, I step inside. The hatch closes behind me. That should frighten me, but I'm just happy I'm in. Is this place bigger on the inside? It feels like it. I've never seen any tech like this before. The machines, the computers, the chairs, the windows... none of it looks mechanical. None of it looks Earth-like. It looks alive. When I run my hand along the wall, it feels alive. It's like the ship has a pulse, and every few seconds, I feel that pulse vibin' through me.
And there's the man of the hour. The giant alien who's made all this possible. The reason I'm here. The guy I need to speak to. The guy who's reaching out at me. Reaching towards me. Reaching. Reaching? Grabbing? He's grabbing me? What the crud?
He grabs me – good Lord, his hand covers my whole dang forearm! I feel threatened. I feel like we bout ta throw down. Like fo'real. Even if he wasn't a eight foot Goliath lookin' somethin', I'd have a problem with this. You don't touch me. My space is my space, and unless I invite you there, you don't go! I snatch my arm away, but as I do I feel a sharp, quick, shocking sensation.
On my arm, I see a wristband of some sort. It's like a watch.
“Yo dawg, what the crud was that?” I say.
“Did it scare you that much?” I hear the giant ask in his deep, gruffy, low voice.
“No, not scare, but definitely – wait, did I jus' hear you talk?”
“That's generally what a translator does. It makes your brain interpret the language of someone else who's wearing it.”
Then he shows me the wrist watch on his arm.
“So that means you're not speaking English?”
“And you're not speaking Kr'pt.”
“So it's like I'm reading your mind, an' you're reading mine? Telepathy? Dat TP?”
“To an extent.”
“That extent being?”
“We have to actually be talking to hear each other.”
Now I'm trying really hard to contain my excitement right now. I think I'm doin' a fairly good job at it, but a smile certainly peaks through. There're so many questions I want to ask him. Where he's from, what he's been doing, why he's here. Wait. Yeah, that's a good one.
“So why are you here?”
“By accident, I can assure you. This place—Earth you call it—is the last place I needed to be. It'll make due for now, but I really need to get going before long.”
“Okay, so you're an alien. I guess that means there're other aliens out there, right?”
“Out there? Yeah, there're others out there. Space is a big place. Of course you won't see any 'aliens' in this star system, but just outside of it, there's entire civilizations.”
“The star system? Okay, by 'star' I guess you mean 'sun.' Our solar system has planets going around the sun. Alright, I see you. So why aren't the others here, then?”
“There're laws that forbid it. It's part of the reason I need to leave soon. If word got out that I was here – You see, this whole galaxy is united by a governing body. That government is meant to represent each and every system in it. But there are some systems, like your own, who haven't quite got a handle on interstellar communication or travel. Not for lack of trying. There're planets that send out probes, beacons, and all these waves in every which direction, and they do get picked up on, but they're still a far cry from actually establishing communication. The government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to treat them as 'protected systems.' Until they step up, there is to be no interaction with any planet, moon, or star in that system.”
This is cool.
This is really cool.
I want to go on and talk more about this, because it's really, really cool. But I can't. That would be uncool. I don't wanna overburden this guy with all my questions about everything. Not unless he specifically says it's okay. He already mentioned that he's working on trying to get off the planet. I don't wanna be the dude to slow him down.
“Anything else you want to know?” he asks.
“Nah man, I'm good.”
“Okay. You're welcome to look around. I've still got some repairs to make. Try not to break anything, and when you're ready to leave, the door's right – ”
Then out of no where, some alarm starts blaring. Everything in here starts flashing red. The alien says something I can only presume is a cuss word of some sort and immediately bursts into action. He heads to the control panel. I follow behind.
“What's going on?” I ask.
“We have to go.”
“What?”
And without another moment—within a second's notice—we take off, and we take off fast. Whatever propulsion this ship has is incredible. We go fast. We go really fast. You'd think there was a big rocket boom to go with it, but it's actually kinda quiet, relatively speaking.
I'm jerked onto the floor. Something falls from the back and hits my head. I'm okay, but it wasn't pleasant.
In the next instant, I feel a sense of weightlessness. It's like I'm underwater. Then all the weight comes back. Everything gets set back to normal. I stand up wondering what exactly just happened. I look out onto the monitor I see the alien looking at. Another monitor shows what looks like a big blue ball floating in – wayment.
“That's Earth?”
“What the crud? We're in space?
Episode 02: Aliens in my Backyard
Table of Contents
((Opening Theme))
You see it too, right? I'm not imagining it? This isn't a dream?
I'm staring out the back window of my house. It's pitch black outside. Looks foggy out there, too. Hard to see anything, but I definitely see something. My mind instantly goes to spaceship. I have no idea why. A spaceship would be crazy. Why would anything from all the way up there choose to land here of all places? It can't be a spaceship.
But what if it is?
What if we're being invaded, and I'm earth's first line of defense? That thought excites me. It's a terrifying thought, but I'm excited over it all the same. Me and it. Me and the fate of the whole world. Oh shoot. Oh dang. Am I gonna have to save the world?
A'ight now, reel it back in.
All this fog. All this black. All I can make out from where I'm looking is that there's a big something in my backyard. I think I can see lights, but other than a rough form, I got nothing to go on.
I step away from the window and look up at the ceiling. I guess I'm looking for inspiration? I don't know why I'm looking up. Think. Whatever that thing is, it's definitely out there, and it definitely shouldn't be. I've had dreams like this before. What did I do in them? How am I sure this isn't a dream right now? I'm thinking. Is that a sign? I think therefore I am? But don't I think in my dreams, too?
I pinch my arm.
It feels like I pinched my arm. If this were a dream, wouldn't I imagine myself being pinched?
Reel it back in.
I need to figure out what that thing is, and I'm not gonna figure it out standing here inside. So I walk to the back door, open it, and step into the black.
Dang it's cold out. I shoulda got a jacket. These pajamas I'm wearing ain't gonna cut it. Should I? Shouldn't I? Nah, let's go. I step into the black. The cold strikes me to the bone. I can take it. I'm strong. I walk slowly towards the fog. My guard is up. I done seen enough martial arts movies to pick up a few things. My guard is up, and I'm ready for anything.
The closer I get, the bigger the thing gets. I see the form taking shape behind the fog. It's big. No, big is underselling it. It's huge. Is it a tank? Is it a house? My mind goes back to spaceship, not for some childhood fantasy type thing, but because that's the only thing I can think of to describe it. If it wasn't a spaceship, it'd be some giant building type thing. One story high. Super wide.
Something on it moves. In front of me, I see some sort of hatch open up, like an airplane door. What are those called? Plug doors? I wouldn't know. Whatever that door thing is, it's freakin' me out. I'm kinda scared. Nah, ain't no “kinda” in it. I'm scared. All that talk about saving the world? Shoot, someone else can do it. I should about face an' head right back to my bed an' sleep the night away. I should. I would. I will.
But I can't.
My legs won't let me. My feet keep walking towards it. It feels like I'm under some TP's mind control, 'cept the one controllin' my mind is me. Somethin' in me wants me to keep goin'. I'm not adventurous. I don't like surprises, but for some reason I wanna see where this goes.
So I keep walkin'. My guard's still up. I'm braced for anything. Whoever or whatever's about to come out – there we go.
A figure emerges. I make my way to the door, and the figure is standing in front of me. It's tall. I'm disappointed that it's not some silver, bald headed dude on a surfboard. I'm disappointed that it's not some blue and gold man with a bucket for a helmet. I'm disappointed that it's not someone in a green and black suit with a glowing, green ring on his finger or a black and blue beetle lookin' thing. Now, I say disappointed, but I think the word I'm searching for is “relieved.” If it was any of those things, I'd be in trouble. No way I could take those dudes in a fight, but this guy right here? This tall, bulky, dark blue skinned, whale-faced looking golem right here?
He doesn't stand a chance.
“What up?” I say.
The words come naturally. I'm pretty sure that's an alien, and I'm pretty sure that's his spaceship, and the only thing on my mind now is carrying a conversation with him.
“My name is Darius. Welcome to planet Earth.”
The thing looks at me weird. Is that a weird look for it? It doesn't have hair on its face, but it's two black beads seem to act like eyes, and whatever facial expressions it makes seem to be in line with regular folk.
“Why have you come?” I ask. “Do you plan to enslave us? Is there an alien armada waitin' for your word? What's your deal?”
Either he's ignoring me or he doesn't understand me. I'm gonna guess it's both. Unless the dude's a TP, he ain't got no way to understand Earth language. There's not even an “Earth” language to understand. We still got different people speakin' in different tongues.
So now what? Do we jus' stand here lookin' at each other? He seems to have lost interest. He walks past me and stares out at the night sky, which looks like you imagine: big, black, open. The fog makes it hard to see any stars. I hear the giant—what is he, eight, nine feet—mumble something to himself.
“I'd take you to my leader,” I say to him, “but chances are my mom would get mad. It is kinda late.”
He pays no mind to what I'm saying. I know he doesn't care, but just the act of me talking to him sorta grounds this experience for me. I see him look at different points, like he's searching for a certain land mark—land mark?—Sky mark. He's probably lost.
I walk up to him. Then I walk around him. He finally takes the time out to notice me.
“I'm going back inside now,” I say. “Please don't blow up the world.”
And that's the end of it. My first alien encounter and nothing happened. I walk back towards the house, turn my back to get one last glimpse, and then – wait, what?
I turn my back for one second—just a second—and the thing is gone. The thing, the ship, the alien, it's all gone. I don't know if I should be relieved or terrified. I'm tired though. My mind is on some other type stuff right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if I hallucinated the whole thing. Couldn't hallucinate this cold, though.
Whatever the case, I head back inside, walk right back upstairs, plop straight in the bed, and fall asleep instantly.
The next thing I hear—and this is the following morning—is the sound of Jade banging on my bedroom door.
“Darius, get up! We're running late!” she shouts.
I moan. I turn over in my sheets. I fall out the bed. Then I sit straight up. The sun's peaking through my window shades. It's a new day. It's an ordinary day. I know it's ordinary because everything is as it should be. I'm up. My sister's up. We're running late. These are the things you can count on.
Everyone in the house is rushing: to the bathroom, to the kitchen, to the car.
“Did you take out the garbage?” Mom asks.
Now I'm rushing inside to collect the garbage: garbage in the kitchen, garbage in my room, Jade's room, mom's room, the bathrooms. I take the trash to the garbage can out back. Everything about this day is typical. Friday, October 13, 3000. Nothing odd or out of place. Nothing except that.
All it takes is a glance—a passing glance—to my backyard to tell me that this day might not be so ordinary after all. There it sits in all of its grand luxury, just like how it was last night.
There's still a spaceship in my backyard.
And then there's not.
The moment was so brief, I thought it was just my imagination. Then it dawns on me.
“Cloaker.”
It makes sense. The ship's got a cloaker. It's there. It's been there in that same spot. It's just been invisible. A'ight den. I guess that's where it'll stay for now. I got school to get to.
And in the next few minutes, that's exactly where I'm at. Jade got dropped off first, then me. Like I said, we're late, but that's expected. That's normal. I say bye to my mom and rush inside the school. My class is on the second floor. I can't be bothered with anything else right now. In spite of what's waiting for me at home, the only thing that needs to happen is me gettin' to class, and goin' about my day.
I run up the stairs. I bob and weave through the crowd. I'm not the only one in a rush, but I'm the only one that matters. I see the classroom in my sights. Just a few more steps an' we're home free. I hear the tardy bell ring, but I'm so close, I might still actually make it.
“DJ!”
A voice calls out. It startles me for a second. I know it's directed at me, and I got a pretty good idea where it's coming from.
“Chris?” I turn around and see that blue haired, Afro-Mexican-American boy dressed in his usual black and grey.
I don't need this conversation right now. I don't want. But Chris is my dude, so I guess I'll have it.
“No,” he says. “Not 'Chris,' Nexus. You're supposed to call me Nexus.”
That's the new thing he's on now. His full name's Christophe. Everyone's been calling him Chris, because that's just the name you call him. It's simple, it's to the point, but it's been getting on his nerves for a while. There's way too many Chris's in the world. He doesn't wanna be part of them. He wants to stand out. So now he's tryna get folks to call him Nexus.
Nexus. What does that even mean? I doubt he even knows.
The convo starts off like you're everyday chitchat. We catch up, but you know me. I hate chitchat, so I move on to some more important type stuff. Somethin' with meaning. Somethin' worthwhile.
“I done saw a spaceship.”
He's taken by surprise. His first response is to ask if I'm currently sane. Expected. Then he gets intrigued by the prospect, and asks if he can come see it.
“Sure,” I say. “Come over.”
We part ways soon after that, and I make my graceful approach to class.
In there, I spot my other dude, Noah. Dressed in two—three—shades of blue, short afro all nappy lookin'—oh, I'm sorry—unkempt. All and all, the dude's lazily put together. Such a bum, but, hey, at least he's on time.
He looks my way and gives me that look: that smirk that says it all. “Late again? You just never learn.” Whatever doe. After first period ends, we catch up. He's into the same nerdy stuff I'm into. The comics that came out, the latest episode of that cartoon we're both into. And then he moves on to somethin' else, somethin' unexpected.
“So there's this girl,” he says.
“Who?”
“Marie.”
“Word?”
“And this other girl, and I think Jamal—y'know Kai—is gonna be mad at me.”
“Fo'real?”
“Yeah, I'll tell you later.”
Well dang. But that's Noah for ya. Always into somethin'. Got so caught up with that, I didn't even get the chance to tell him 'bout my night. Ah well. He can find out about aliens later.
So that's how my day started. Fast forward seven hours ahead, and we get to how it ends. School lets out. People rush home. It's Friday. The weekend has officially started. The only thing on my mind is my next move with it. You know – it. The thing. I don't know what it's here for. I don't know what it's gonna do, but I'm gonna find out. Somehow I am.
Back at home, I'm sitting in my room, rocking back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. Chris said he'd be here, but it's comin' up on five o'clock now, and I'm losing patience. Knowing him, he forgot anyway. I'm about to go out back and investigate the ship without him.
But is that the smart thing?
I guess I could call him. Not even him, I could call everyone: Lynn, Kai, Noah. It's not like they're doin' anything important. Certainly not anything as important as this.
I know what I'll do.
I run by my mom and ask her if I can go over Chris's house. Normally she's deadset against me going anywhere outside the house, and I'm okay with that. But since she knows Chris and I know Chris and she knows Chris's mom, there's a mutual understanding here. She gives the okay, and I head outside.
I start down the sidewalk, then stop and look back. I'm standing for probably a good five minutes, then I just walk to the backyard. Forget Chris. He's jus' gon' have ta miss out.
The ship's still cloaked, but I know it's there. I make my way closer to where I remember it being and place my hand out there. It looks like I'm just touching thin air, but I feel it. I definitely feel it. Then I see something open. It looks like the sky opens up in front of me, but I'm sure it's just the ship's hatch.
Without even thinking, I step inside. The hatch closes behind me. That should frighten me, but I'm just happy I'm in. Is this place bigger on the inside? It feels like it. I've never seen any tech like this before. The machines, the computers, the chairs, the windows... none of it looks mechanical. None of it looks Earth-like. It looks alive. When I run my hand along the wall, it feels alive. It's like the ship has a pulse, and every few seconds, I feel that pulse vibin' through me.
And there's the man of the hour. The giant alien who's made all this possible. The reason I'm here. The guy I need to speak to. The guy who's reaching out at me. Reaching towards me. Reaching. Reaching? Grabbing? He's grabbing me? What the crud?
He grabs me – good Lord, his hand covers my whole dang forearm! I feel threatened. I feel like we bout ta throw down. Like fo'real. Even if he wasn't a eight foot Goliath lookin' somethin', I'd have a problem with this. You don't touch me. My space is my space, and unless I invite you there, you don't go! I snatch my arm away, but as I do I feel a sharp, quick, shocking sensation.
On my arm, I see a wristband of some sort. It's like a watch.
“Yo dawg, what the crud was that?” I say.
“Did it scare you that much?” I hear the giant ask in his deep, gruffy, low voice.
“No, not scare, but definitely – wait, did I jus' hear you talk?”
“That's generally what a translator does. It makes your brain interpret the language of someone else who's wearing it.”
Then he shows me the wrist watch on his arm.
“So that means you're not speaking English?”
“And you're not speaking Kr'pt.”
“So it's like I'm reading your mind, an' you're reading mine? Telepathy? Dat TP?”
“To an extent.”
“That extent being?”
“We have to actually be talking to hear each other.”
Now I'm trying really hard to contain my excitement right now. I think I'm doin' a fairly good job at it, but a smile certainly peaks through. There're so many questions I want to ask him. Where he's from, what he's been doing, why he's here. Wait. Yeah, that's a good one.
“So why are you here?”
“By accident, I can assure you. This place—Earth you call it—is the last place I needed to be. It'll make due for now, but I really need to get going before long.”
“Okay, so you're an alien. I guess that means there're other aliens out there, right?”
“Out there? Yeah, there're others out there. Space is a big place. Of course you won't see any 'aliens' in this star system, but just outside of it, there's entire civilizations.”
“The star system? Okay, by 'star' I guess you mean 'sun.' Our solar system has planets going around the sun. Alright, I see you. So why aren't the others here, then?”
“There're laws that forbid it. It's part of the reason I need to leave soon. If word got out that I was here – You see, this whole galaxy is united by a governing body. That government is meant to represent each and every system in it. But there are some systems, like your own, who haven't quite got a handle on interstellar communication or travel. Not for lack of trying. There're planets that send out probes, beacons, and all these waves in every which direction, and they do get picked up on, but they're still a far cry from actually establishing communication. The government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to treat them as 'protected systems.' Until they step up, there is to be no interaction with any planet, moon, or star in that system.”
This is cool.
This is really cool.
I want to go on and talk more about this, because it's really, really cool. But I can't. That would be uncool. I don't wanna overburden this guy with all my questions about everything. Not unless he specifically says it's okay. He already mentioned that he's working on trying to get off the planet. I don't wanna be the dude to slow him down.
“Anything else you want to know?” he asks.
“Nah man, I'm good.”
“Okay. You're welcome to look around. I've still got some repairs to make. Try not to break anything, and when you're ready to leave, the door's right – ”
Then out of no where, some alarm starts blaring. Everything in here starts flashing red. The alien says something I can only presume is a cuss word of some sort and immediately bursts into action. He heads to the control panel. I follow behind.
“What's going on?” I ask.
“We have to go.”
“What?”
And without another moment—within a second's notice—we take off, and we take off fast. Whatever propulsion this ship has is incredible. We go fast. We go really fast. You'd think there was a big rocket boom to go with it, but it's actually kinda quiet, relatively speaking.
I'm jerked onto the floor. Something falls from the back and hits my head. I'm okay, but it wasn't pleasant.
In the next instant, I feel a sense of weightlessness. It's like I'm underwater. Then all the weight comes back. Everything gets set back to normal. I stand up wondering what exactly just happened. I look out onto the monitor I see the alien looking at. Another monitor shows what looks like a big blue ball floating in – wayment.
“That's Earth?”
“What the crud? We're in space?
