Aliens in the Sky (7 page)

“It might be a blessing.”

Adam stepped back from the transparent wall and sat down on one of the beds. He was exhausted. The time he had spent unconscious from the ray gun zap had not qualified as a refreshing nap. He was also deathly thirsty and hungry. He wondered what the meals would be like.

“You're depressing me,” Adam muttered.

“I'm sorry.” Watch sat on the bed across from him. “Maybe it's not as hopeless as it appears. We've been in some nasty fixes before, and we've always gotten out. Why should this time be any different?”

“Because this time we're trapped in a cage billions of miles from Earth?”

Watch yawned and leaned back on his bed. “Now you're depressing me.”

There was nothing else to say, for the time being.

They both lay down and rested. They may have even dozed.

Time went by. They weren't sure how much.

Without warning they heard a soft knock at the door.

“Hey. Are you in there?”

A
s Sally predicted, there were four guards waiting for them when they docked. Sally had Ek invite them in so she and Cindy could stun them. They stored the guards belowdecks with the others. To Sally and Cindy's immense relief, no other guards rushed to the scene. Perhaps Ek was partially right—his people were not experts when it came to security. Sally, Cindy, and Ek had time to work.

Unfortunately, Ek was making little progress with his plan. They had been in space dock an hour and he still hadn't been able to locate Adam and
Watch. He was searching through some kind of computer map that was projected on a three-dimensional computer screen located to the left of the saucer control panel. He said it was supposed to register all living creatures on the station.

“I do not understand why they do not show up.”

“It's the way I told you,” Sally said as she paced behind Ek. “There must be restricted areas aboard this station. You have to forget about trying to find them. Just broadcast on your telepathic network what has happened. Maybe one of the thousands of fatheads—I mean, maybe one of your many network partners—will have an idea where they are.”

“I don't know if that's a good idea,” Cindy said. “The moment Ek makes such a broadcast, more guards will show up.”

Sally was agitated. “I know that. I'm not stupid. But they're going to come here anyway. At least we will have got our message out. Once they arrest us, there'll be no chance. We'll probably be put to immediate death.”

“Our culture does not have the death penalty.”

“You don't know what your culture does behind
closed doors,” Sally snapped. Then she paused, thinking. “How can we protect ourselves inside this ship? When they do come for us?”

“We can lock the door. But they will burn through it quickly, if they want to.”

“Can you fire the ship's weapons while we're in space dock?” Sally asked.

“That would not be a good idea. Many could be hurt.”

Sally rolled her eyes. “Like I'm worried about a few casualties. Listen, Ek, I am not a violent person by nature but you guys started this, and I intend to finish it. When your authorities show up, we need something to fight them with until we can get Adam and Watch back. Better yet, we need something to
force
them to give us back our friends. Even if we just use it as a bluff.”

“What is a bluff?”

“It's what you do when you want to win at poker,” Sally said. She pointed to the floor beneath them. “This ship accelerated to near light speed in two hours. It must have a powerful engine or warp drive. What's its source of energy?”

“Our space drive is powered by the decay of an element called Zelithium 110. It cannot be found on
your periodic table of elements because it does not exist naturally, except in the corona of extremely hot blue stars. As the element decays in a chamber of Hyperzoid Quartz, it radiates subatomic particles we call Bostonians. They are very powerful but unstable, unless carefully controlled.”

Sally glanced at Cindy. “I got less than half that,” Cindy said.

“You say the Bostonians are unstable?” Sally said. “I like things that way. Instability brings out my finer points. Tell me, Ek, can this stuff be used to make a bomb?”

Ek looked as worried as an expressionless alien could.

“Yes. The Hyperzoid Quartz can be tampered with so that the decay of Bostonians builds toward a critical mass.”

“What happens when critical mass is reached?” Sally asked.

“There is a huge explosion.”

“Would the explosion be strong enough to destroy this space station?” Sally asked.

Ek hesitated.
“Yes. And many stations and vessels in the immediate vicinity.”

“Can you control the decay of the Bostonians so
that we don't accidentally blow ourselves up?” Sally asked.

“Yes. But not well.”

“Can you stop the chain reaction once it has begun?”

“Yes. If I am lucky.”

“If you start such a chain reaction, will the authorities outside know what you're up to?” Sally asked. “Will they be able to monitor it?”

“Yes.”

“Will it scare them?”

The alien lowered his big head.

“Yes. Very much. You could kill millions of my people.”

Sally smiled at his sad thought. “Ek, I don't want to kill anybody. I just want to scare your people into giving us back Adam and Watch. But when it comes time to bargain, I have to give the impression that I'm a crazy chick from Spooksville who would just as soon blow up this space station as go swimming in our reservoir at home.”

“What is Spooksville?”

“That's where we come from,” Sally explained. “And you and your pals are only one of the reasons it has earned that name. You're not even the worst reason. Now broadcast your telepathic message
about Adam and Watch and get your Boston bomb ready. Work as fast as you can. I'm still hoping to make it home in time for bed.”

Cindy shook her head doubtfully. “You're playing with fire, Sally.”

“You don't understand me, Cindy.” Sally rubbed her hands together, excited. “I'm playing to win.”

H
earing the knock on the door, and the telepathic message, Adam and Watch jumped up from the beds and huddled by the door. They could hear nothing outside.

“Who do you think it is?” Adam asked.

“Either Ekweel2 or another alien,” Watch said.

“I know it's either Ekweel2 or another alien. Sally and Cindy haven't become telepathic in the last few hours. The question is, what should we do?”

“If it's someone come to rescue us,” Watch said. “We'll never forgive ourselves if we don't answer.”

Adam put his mouth close to the door. “Yeah, we're in here. But who are you?”

The telepathic response was immediate.

“Zhekee191.”

Adam and Watch stared at each other. “Their names are kind of corny,” Adam said.

“Imagine if there are hundreds of Zhekees,” Watch agreed.

Adam spoke to the door again. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Are you Adam and Watch? The two human beings?”

“Yes,” Adam said. “How did you learn our names?” None of the other aliens, with the exception of Ekweel2, had asked them.

“Ekweel2 came on our youth network and explained that you two had been taken captive by our government, in violation of our laws. He wanted all of us to fan out and search for you. I know Ekweel2 personally. I am his friend and respect what he says. I know he would not joke about such a serious matter.”

“How were you able to get into this place?”

“My father works here. I have known for many years that we are not encouraged to visit here and it made me wonder if perhaps this was where you had
been taken captive. I am pleased to find you so quickly. I have my father's passkey. It allows me to enter and exit this section.”

“Can you open this door?” Adam asked.

“Yes. I just have to push the button beside the door and it will open.”

Again Adam and Watch stared at each other. “He might have said so at the beginning,” Adam said.

“Perhaps he's afraid how ugly we'll look,” Watch said.

“I know what you look like, of course. I will open the door.”

The door opened right then. Zhekeel91 could have been Ekweel2's identical twin brother. He stared up at them with his big black almond-shaped eyes.

“You are tall.”

“We get taller, as time goes on,” Adam said. “Where is Ekweel2?”

“He did not say specifically but he must still be in space dock.”

“Do you know if he has our friends Sally and Cindy with him?” Watch asked.

“No. He did not mention them in his message. Are they female humans?”

“Yes.” Adam paused. “How did you guess that?”

“I have studied your culture. It is a required class in our schools.”

“I didn't know we were so important,” Adam said. “Are you guys planning to invade our planet?”

Zhekeel91 seemed taken aback.

“We could not do that. It would not be possible.”

“Then how or why do you know so much about us?” Watch asked.

“Because you made us who we are. Of course.”

“Of course,” Adam muttered. He had no idea what the alien was talking about, nor did he really care. He just wanted to get home. He was starving for a real Earth dinner. “Can you take us to space dock?” he asked.

“That is what I wish to do. But we have to be careful. You are not easy to hide. I know a special way there that few take.”

“Can you get us a weapon?” Watch asked.

“What do you need a weapon for?”

“Protection,” Adam said. “We've already been shot by your people once today. We won't shoot anybody unless we're attacked. You have our word.”

“I cannot get you a weapon. I do not even know where they are stored.”

“Take us to the space dock then,” Adam said. “And thanks ahead of time for all your help.”

Watch glanced back in the direction of the captured Hyeet. “I hate to leave that hairy guy. I feel like he's almost one of us.”

Adam nodded. “Maybe we can rescue him later. But right now we have to take care of ourselves.”

They hurried out of the cell and raced down a long hallway. Right away Adam could see they were going in a different direction from before. The hallways were all similar, but there were also differences. For example, for several hundred yards, they entered a glass hallway that looked out over a massive park area. The green area had to be a mile across. It was crowded with thousands of aliens. Some seemed to be playing games, others were just relaxing by small lakes.

Yet there was no sun in the sky. There was no real sky, actually, just a wide curving ceiling that glowed with gentle yellow light. Adam wondered if Watch might have been right. Maybe the aliens had polluted their planet so badly that they had to live in space, whether they wanted to or not.

Maybe that was why they kept coming to Earth.

To take it over. Adam didn't care what Zhekeel91 said.

He was still worried about an invasion.

Adam was glad no one noticed them while they were in the glass hallway.

It would have been hard to outrun thousands.

Yet, before they reached the space dock, they did run into a guard. He appeared to be searching for them. He carried a ray gun and when he saw them he immediately aimed it at them. They received a strong and clear telepathic message at the same time.

“Stop where you are and put your hands over your heads.”

Where they were, fortunately, was two feet from a corner. Adam and Watch exchanged quick knowing glances. No way they were going back in that cage. They jumped for cover, behind the corner. There was a flash of green light but it bounced harmlessly off the wall behind them.

Zhekeel91 seemed taken by surprise. He remained frozen where they had been spotted by the guard. Watch started to run away, but Adam grabbed his arm and pulled him tight against the wall, right next to the corner.

“Let's take the guard,” Adam whispered.

The alien security guard had obviously not grown up on spy movies. The guy came running
around the corner without any thought that they might be waiting for him. Adam simply stuck out his foot. The guy tripped; he went down hard. In fact, he seemed to knock himself out when he hit the floor with his big fat head. Adam reached down and grabbed his weapon, which had bounced free. Zhekeel91 stared at them with a mixture of wonder and terror.

“You are an interesting species.”

“We have our good points,” Adam admitted. He showed Zhekeel91 the weapon. “How do I control the power on this thing?”

It was very simple. If he turned the little knob clockwise, the power became stronger. There were ten settings.
One
stood for light stun.
Two
was hard stun.
Four
and up could kill, Zhekeel91 warned. Adam left the weapon on
two,
where it had originally been set, but he didn't rule out the possibility of increasing the power. They were taking a space ship to Earth, he vowed, one way or the other. Zhekeel91 was more worried than ever.

“Please do not hurt anyone.”

“We only want to go home,” Adam said.

Zhekeel91 led them on their way. Ten minutes later they reached the space dock. There was no transition. They were in a narrow hallway one
second, then they were in the gigantic space harbor the next. Adam and Watch were stunned to see a crowd of aliens gathered around one saucer. The ship floated at the end of a narrow dock. The aliens were bunched up on the dock like sardines in a can. They had several portable instruments with them, and seemed to be measuring what was going on inside the ship. The vessel looked exactly like the craft they had taken from Earth to the alien station. But Adam quickly realized that this was the one that Sally, Cindy, and Ekweel2 flew.