The Terror from Space! or: Apparently I Have New Neighbors (Fiction)

[Gemini]

My latest installment in the "Too the Moon, Mars, and Beyond!" set 1 decade after the events of "Operation Duct tape" a few weeks prior to the launch of Explorer-1. It's part October Sky homage, part 50's Sci-Fi/ Twilight Zone send up. Also I don't have new neighbors, the ones I have are weird enough.

I remember it like it was yesterday; a cold winter’s Sunday afternoon back in January of 1958, a slight breeze was blowing out of the southwest and the sun was starting to set. There I stood with the few people that I had the privilege of calling friends out on a farm near Monte Sano Mountain watching as the fuse burned down on a home built rocket. Suddenly, Rick Watley spoke up.
“Hey Les, don’t you think we should be behind something for this?”
“That would be highly advisable.”
“I don’t see any sufficient cover, now what?” I looked over at the rocket, the fuse was getting awfully short .
“Uh, Run?,” I stammered, “Run! Fast! Go! NOW!!” I broke into a dead sprint hoping to get to a safe distance. About midsprint the blasted thing exploded into tiny rocket shards. Following that racket was more commotion caused by the baying and barking of dogs.
I looked over at the tree stump I had been using as a make-shift launch stand. The area where there had once been a launch stand was now just smoking black stain and some debris.
Bill Gibson looked distraught , “How many does this make that we’ve blown up now?”
“I believe this number is number 4.”
“At least we didn’t blow up a fence this time, or was it a porch railing, I forget. It was something long and rectangular anyway.” Kelly Morris slowly pulled herself from a “Duck and Cover” position.
“True, and it was a porch railing.” This was in reference to my first foray into rocketry, Mom was not happy all, to top it all off, I took out a few windows on the house as well. As a matter of fact, that little incident is why we ended up on Saul Gunderson’s farm in the first place, who I am very grateful to for letting us use the far end of the property.
Minutes later, Mr. Gunderson pulled up in his WWII surplus Jeep shaking his head.
“You crazy kids didn’t blow yourselves up did you?”
“Well, Sir, I’m talking to you, so apparently not,” I said jokingly.
“No offence, but if the government can’t keep their rockets from exploding like that crazy ‘Vanguard’ contraption , I don’t see how a bunch of amateurs could.”
Bill chimed in. “Well, we’re certainly trying, sir.”
I walked closer to the Jeep. “I heard that Von Braun’s ( the same Von Braun I ran into at Western Auto last week) team at Redstone plans to launch satellite at the end of this month, we won’t be beating the Ruskies, but at least it’s something.”
“Ugh, I’m all for beating the Reds, but I’m just not quite comfortable with those guys for some reason. Guess I’m biased due to the war; I spent four long years fighting the Nazis. On the other hand, Russia was also our ally back then. I don’t know, maybe I’m just paranoid. Well, I’ll let you kids go, you probably need to get on home, Y’all come back now, ya hear! ”
“Oh we’ll be back as soon as we get another one built.”
Despite feeling a bit defeated, we were giddy with anticipation on our next launch. Walter Calvert, the guy in charge of the fuel mixing was positive that he made a slight calculation error and that the next batch of rocket fuel would be perfect. We discussed these plans as we piled into the back of Bill Gibson’s Dad’s (a local undertaker) Cadillac hearse. When it wasn’t serving as a meat wagon, it was our official launch site transportation vehicle (creepy right? We were somewhat reluctant to ride in at first). On the way home, we discussed, well, just about everything. However, to this day, I will remember that Rick said that one day spaceflight won’t be the domain of just the government, but that private industry will take over.
“You guys remember that movie, ‘Destination: Luna’, I think it was called?”
“’Destination Moon', but yeah. That was just movie.”
“True, but still, wouldn’t it be awesome if someone, probably with a name like something out of spy novel, did build their own space program, even buy a launch pad of their own at the Cape?”
“Now that’s crazy talk, right there.” Walter was a bit skeptical of Rick’s crystal ball on the future.
...To Be Continued

[KaiYeves]

I totally love this whole series, so just reading this has me tickled pink. Love the little quirks and jokes, the "prediction", and the talking-in-parentheses. And with a set-up like that, it can't be anything BUT awesome.

Keep it up, Gemini!

[Gemini]

I'll try to get pt. II up by Saturday.

[KaiYeves]

Cool! In the meantime, I need to find time away from my schoolwork to work on ItC...

[Gemini]

The next day was a typical post-Christmas break Monday, made so much worse by the fact that senior year was drawing to a close and the school days were passing glacially slow. Now normally, most folks my age are sad to see the end of their high school days and their supposed “Glory Days” ( as the song says) . Not Lester Wilkins, no sir, I was counting the days until the end; I was tired of my friends and I being treated like lower life forms by the “beautiful people.” Furthermore, I was tired of bigoted remarks from the lowlife bullies that inhabited the school ( I say lowlife, but the vast majority of them were from the more upscale parts of town) about us being friends with Walter, who would have been our classmate thanks to Brown vs. Board of Education had the powers-that be not had other plans. Despite being from the poorer part of town, he was actually a skilled chemist thanks to spending time in his father’s corner drugstore as kid. We met at a meeting of the local science fiction club; turns out he was actually a huge Bradbury fan. The rest of the group I had known from middle school except Bill, who transferred here in 10th grade. Our rocket program began at the end of junior year with Rick and me on fabrication and Kelly crunching the numbers.
Also, I was counting down the days until something else; the launch of the Army’s Explorer-1. Finally, America was back on track to show that it was still a viable power in the world in that it too could launch an artificial moon. There was quite a bit of a buzz about the launch at the January SF club meeting. The club meetings were held in a used bookstore near the old airport. I was initially surprised to see several older guys there in addition to us young folks, as Science Fiction was generally considered something you grew out of in that day and age (still is to some boring people).
Dave Fontaine was one of the more senior club members, after Melvin Morris (Kelly’s dad), at 47 addressed our group.
“How’s the rocketry going, folks?”
“We blew up another one.”
“Well, at least you’re still behind the military; they seem to be exploding on a regular basis down at the Cape.”
“They have to start somewhere, right? Just like us.” Walt looked up from the November ’57 issue of Popular Science. “Besides, I’m positive I’ve got the mixture right this time. Hopefully it won’t burn as fast so we have a rocket, as opposed to a bomb.”
“Just remember, be careful, I don’t want anyone getting hurt on my farm that doesn’t deserve it.” Saul Gunderson was another one of the “Old Guys” of the Huntsville Science Fiction Society (That’s how we met him as well). He was referring to a burglar whose kneecaps he shot out with his Smith and Wesson .38 Special.
The meeting concluded with a discussion of the Explorer 1 launch party which was to be held at Morris residence (Melvin was the club president). After the meeting, some of us stuck around and talked for a while. In the distant sky over the Arsenal, a shooting star arced over the horizon slowed a headed for a landing in the woods in Monte Sano State Park.
“Hey Martin, is it just me, or do meteors not normally do that?”
“I’m pretty sure they don’t the last time I checked.” Dave and Martin would’ve known, as they were also members of the RCAA, the Rocket City Astronomical Association.
“Let’s check it out.” Bill looked excited.
“Famous last words.” Rick always had to play the cautious one.
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? Besides, it’s a Friday and there’s no school tomorrow. You kids could learn something.” The elder Morris seemed eager to check it out as well.
Saul stood up on the store’s front steps, put out his cigarette, and calmly remarked, “When in Rome.”


On the way to the impact site, our car (my ’51 Chevy, the hearse was in the shop for repairs) was met by a couple of police cars and a park ranger’s pickup truck, and a couple of vehicles bearing U.S. Army markings. It turned out that our meteor wasn’t a meteor at all…

To be continued…

[KaiYeves]

Ooooh-weee-oooh...

Famous last words indeed.

[Gemini]

There, looming before us in that forest clearing was a large metallic object roughly 50 feet in diameter and 20 feet tall with three spindly legs protruding. Though it was probably made of some sort of exotic metal, it almost looked it was covered in brushed stainless steel, with a darker material around the rim. Several of the men that the army had sent over were scientists who were now taking readings on the thing, taking photos, giving it a good going-over with some sort of science-y looking instrument, while several soldiers had regular and recoilless rifles trained on the thing. My group and the park ranger stood some distance away near our respective vehicles, not wanting to get their way and be able to get out quickly if anyone started shooting.
“Like I said Martin, I told you this wasn’t a meteor.” Dave looked giddy.
“It’s a genuine flying saucer, probably a Soviet experimental ship, I don’t see any markings though.” Melvin was both excited and skeptical over the idea that this could be from another planet.
Martin had a pair of binoculars trained on the thing, watching it intently.
“Do you see anything?” Rick’s voice resonated with a slight twinge of disquiet. This whole scene was almost like watching a replay of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
“I don’t see anything so far. Wait , hold on a second”
“What I don’t see…” Bill stopped “It’s opening u! It’s opening up!” The scientists darted away as a slit of yellow light appeared on the craft. The soldiers took aim. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light. Then everything went dark…
There was ringing in my head as I opened my eyes, and scanned my surroundings. I was still in the same clearing, except that it was daylight. I looked over in the distance, the saucer was gone, but the soldiers were either passed out on the ground or slumped over the side of their truck. Bill was passed out on the hood of my Chevy while Kelly was laying face down on the ground; Walter’s head was propped up on the passenger-side door. The “Old Guys” were in equally ridiculous positions scattered about the area. The park ranger had somehow managed to wind up in the driver’s seat of his truck.
I struggled groggily to my feet and opened the door to car; Rick rolled out and woke up.
“Hey, what gives man?”
“Sorry, about that.”
“Yeah, hey what time is it?”
“It’s half past… well this is intriguing.” I noticed that my watch had ceased functioning at exactly 9:37 pm.
“Odd, I’ve never heard of that time scale before.” Kelly apparently had the ability to make smart-aleck comments while face down in the dirt and half conscious.
Dave got up from behind his Oldsmobile and looked around, narrowly avoiding crushing his glasses beneath his feet (Kelly had managed to somehow retain hers.)
“What just happened? Did we do something fun?”
Saul rolled over, got up and dusted himself off.
“Judging by our current state, I’d say ‘perhaps’?”
Soon, the military folks packed up and left.
“Well, this one’s going to fun to explain to Mom and Dad as to why we were out so late.” Bill was finally up.
“Don’t worry; I’ll cover for you guys.” Mr. Morris was cool in that way

...To be continued

[KaiYeves]

"Did we do something fun?" Hehehe. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those "you wouldn't believe me if I told you" things.

[Gemini]

Upon arriving home, I was greeted by my dear sweet mother sweet running up to my car like a furious hen. I didn’t blame her; I would do the same to my own kids if they stayed out all night without telling me where they were. However, I was pretty sure whatever explanation I could come with for this would not go over well, if I told what had really happened she would have had me institutionalized.
“Lester Wilkins, where were you last night? Were you out drinking last night with your friends?”
“No ma’am, you know we wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, that’s all I can think of that would explain you staying out this late.”
“Just let me…” I saw my dad, Russell Seamus “Hank” Wilkins (the original Red Foreman), walk out of the house, clearly not happy as the expression on his face was of the type that could summon lightning bolts and fire down from the heavens. As any sane human being would, I broke out into a cold sweat. Suddenly, my saving grace pulled into the driveway: A ‘ 53 Buick bearing Mr. Morris and his daughter. The elder Morris poked his head out of the driver’s side window.
“Hank, before you rip Les a new one, I’d really like to say that if anyone’s to blame, it’s me.”

“Excuse me?”
“After the club meeting last night, we went to check out where we thought a meteor had come down on the mountain. We didn’t see any sign of a crater, so we headed home. However, I though t it would be best to stop and rest for the night as opposed to being out driving that late. I’m sorry for not telling you folks, but don’t worry, your son and his friends were well looked after.” This same scene played out at the Gibson and Calvert residences as well. Ricks parents were out of town at the time. I felt sorry for Dave, Martin, Melvin and Saul having to explain their absence to their respective wives that could not have been a pleasant experience. All the while this was going on, I noticed that the house next to ours that been previously abandoned, now had a ’55 silver Chevrolet 210 (A variant of the popular Bel-Air series) parked in the driveway.
The last occupants were the Quirk family, the husband was a former military test pilot and was working out Redstone and his wife was a bank teller. They moved out two years ago after staying there for about two years. I’d always see Mr. Quirk in the mornings getting his newspaper, walking with a limp. I asked about it once; he said it was from a plane crash back in ’47.
On the front porch now stood a middle-aged man with unnaturally blonde hair, pale skin and thick glasses; He was dressed in blue suit vest, white shirt, blue plants and black shoes. He scanned the area like a hungry owl looking for dinner; this image made more prevalent by the thick glasses. His wife soon joined and motioned for him to come inside. She was dressed in typical 50’s fashion, dark-headed, and also had very pale skin. Something about them just seemed, well, off…

[KaiYeves]

Nice call-back!

[Gemini]

Suddenly, I had the thought these new arrivals to our neighborhood maybe related to the events of last night; I quickly pointed that thought to the proverbial door; unfortunately, it kept coming back. Another thought occurred, Explorer One was launching this Friday.
“Strange that these people show up just in time for it…” The irksome voice in my head would not be silenced.
“Shut up crazy thoughts or I’ll poke you with a Q-tip” Only the threat of physical violence caused them to stop. But those crazy thoughts still sat in the back of my mind, taunting me.
Even so, I spent the rest of the day watching them, thinking that they might slip up and reveal their true identity; no such luck of course. For all I know, this whole event could have been a group hallucination. I decided this seemed like the most logical conclusion, and went about my business. This opinion changed the next day.
Following church Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in the den watching television, when suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Through door’s glass, I could see a tall man in a black suit and hat staring in through the door.
“Jehovah’s Witness?” I thought at first. Approaching the door, I noticed an ominous black Cadillac outside. Bill’s dad must have gotten the hearse fixed finally. However, on our side of the street was a white Chevrolet bearing US Government markings; I’m in for it now. Trying to muster some courage, I opened the door.
“Good afternoon, may I interest you in some literature?” I noticed he was a holding an issue of Watchtower.
“Sorry, no thank you, sir. Have a nice day!”
“Thank you ;you too.” He turned and walked to the next house. He really was a Jehovah’s Witness. However, that didn’t explain the car…
“Les, could you come out here? There’s someone here to see you. ”
“I’ll be out in a second.” Upon reaching the outdoor sitting area, there was an older man with salt and pepper hair wearing a brown Stetson, and a gray trench coat in addition to my parents.
“Les, I’m Roy Ayers, with the US Army, I have a few questions for you about last night.”
To be continued…

[KaiYeves]

Shades of Deadpool with the interior monologue.

Hmmm... I have two ideas about this Army guy, one weird and one really weird. Let's see which one it is.

[Gemini]

“Um… am I in trouble, sir” I was starting to slightly freak out, just slightly.
“Were you up on Monte Sano last night?”
“No, he wasn’t, he was…” Mom stopped him.
“Yes sir.”
“Son, you lied to me to me!”
“No, Mom, Mr. Morris lied to you, I just went with it. Besides, I figured you wouldn’t believe the true story.”
“In that case, what did you see last night? However ridiculous you may think it is, just tell me. ”
“Okay, It was basically a flying saucer, landed in a clearing” Mom raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of what I was saying. So was I for that matter. Dad had started walking back into the house, muttering something, Mom followed shortly, leaving us to finish our conversion in private. “It was maybe 40 or fifty feet across, basically featureless. I swear I’m not insane.”
“Interesting and uh no, I don’t think you’re insane. In fact, your story is exactly the same as several other people I’ve talked to that were there that night. Also, did you notice any anomalies with any electrical equipment?”

“Yeah, my watch stopped.”
“Any issues with your car radio?”
“Let me check.” I walked around to the front of the house where the car was parked. Sure enough, the radio was not sounding quite right.
“Well?”
“Yeah, it’s doing rather funky, but otherwise functional.”
“You’re lucky, the radio in the deuce and half was fried along with a good deal of scientific equipment that night.”
“What about memory loss?”
“Yes sir. What do you think caused this?”
“It was most likely some sort of EM pulse, best I can figure from the aftermath. However, this the first time we were ever able to get that close to one of those things.”
“Wait, so this has happened before? Is it the Russians pulling these stunts?”
“It would stand to reason that it could be, but so far there’s been no definitive proof that the Soviets are behind this.”
“You don’t think its… aliens… do you?” I cringed for thinking such craziness.
“As ludicrous as it sounds, it could be a possibility.”
“Anyway, if you need anything, here’s my business card, call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you sir!” As he walked away, I thought of something. “ Mr. Ayers?”
“Yeah?”
“We had a new family move in just next door, the very next morning after the incident and they seem extremely, well…off”
“Normally, I’d say you were just being paranoid, but given the circumstances, I’d say keep an eye on them, just in case, you never know.”
“Thanks, I will.” Shorty afterward, Mr. Ayers sped off and the little paranoid voice in my head was personified in my mind’s eye , standing with its arms folded and looking smug. I retired to my room to puzzle over what I had just learned. A couple of hours later, I heard my mother calling.
“Lester, come to dinner, we have guests!”
When I saw who all was at the dining table, I felt a chill go up my spine.

[KaiYeves]

Okay, it's only weird, not really weird, although this dinner is probably going to be the latter...

[Gemini]

Trying to act as normal as humanly possible, I took my seat at the dinner table.
“Lester, this is the Johnson family, from... you know, I never did ask where you folks were from.”
“We’re from,” he paused, “We’re from the North; Ontario, Canada to be specific. I’m John Johnson by the way.” He extended a hand and I shook it. His skin was cold and clammy, it just felt, strange, almost touching a corpse ( Quick side note: No, I’ve ever done that, but I imagine it would feel similar). I repeated this ritual with the rest of the family: his son Jack, his daughter, Jaclyn, and his wife Joanne.
“It’s… uh…a … pleasure to m..meet you all, I’m Lester as you , um, uh, may have , heh, uh, gathered. Uh,sorry , I…I get nervous around new people.” Mom and Dad gave me funny look.
“So, John, what is that brings you to Alabama?” Dad sounded suspicious, for the reason that he’s normally suspicious of foreigners.
“Work related, my company moved down here some time ago. What do you for a living?”
“I’m a car salesman at the local Chevrolet dealership.” This was the reason that I was the only one of my friends to have his own car.
“Les, I heard from Joanne here that Jack and Jackie are starting at your school tomorrow.”
“Oh really?” I suddenly cringed; school tomorrow, blech! Thanks a lot mom; fortunately I didn’t have any homework due Monday.
“Just a heads up guys, watch out for Marlon Silversmith and his group, they’re not particularly nice people.” They tended to pick on people like them, and me.
“Oh don’t be silly, Marlon’s a fine, upstanding young man.”
“Around you he is.” A thought suddenly occurred, what if they really are aliens? Those wealthy, idiotic, airheaded, redneck jocks are going to reflect poorly on the Earth in their research. Well, not quite as badly as the whole “Cold War” thing, but it certainly isn’t going to help.
“Oh, by the way, we’re getting together over at the Morris place Friday to watch Explorer 1 take off, if you’re interested.” I shot a smile at Jackie, and got one back: well played worthy adversaries. Whatever these people are, they know what they’re doing. I wonder if they knew I was on to them. Right at that moment, Mr. Johnson shot a glance and narrowed his brow at me and I tensed up. Defiantly, I did the same. My dad decided to steer the conversion in his direction.
“So, what do you think of football? I’ve heard that they finally fired Whitworth from Alabama and replaced him with Texas A&M’s old coach.” Since ’55, Dad was almost ashamed to admit he was a fan of the Crimson Tide. “I hear he’s good, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“I’m not really fan. It’s too start-and-stop for my tastes. Now, hockey, there’s an exciting game.”
Dad raised an eyebrow. He’s usually suspicious of anyone who says they don’t like football, including me; I just never got the appeal. This was part of the reason we didn’t get a long too well. He was also suspicious of academic types, too. Jack thought he’d break his silence.
“So Les, what do you for fun?”
“Well, I’m in the Science Club at school, um, I also read a lot, I go to the movies every now and then, and I build rockets with some friends of mine. We haven’t gotten one to fly yet, but we’re getting closer. I’ve also messed with painting some thanks to Chesley Bonstell’s stuff. How about you two?”
“I’m into Astronomy, Archery, rifle shooting, baseball, and I build the odd scale model from time to time, I noticed the Revell Bomarc missile when I passed by your room on the way in. My uncle, who’s in the USAF, works at one of Bomarc launch facilities in California.”
“Well, I like to draw,” Jackie spoke for the first time tonight, “I also do sculpture, and photography.”






“Well, thanks for dinner Mrs. Wilkins, but I afraid we need to be getting home, since it’s a school night and all.” The four of them got up and filed out the front door.
“Well, until next time, a lovely evening!” Mom waved as they walked off of the front porch.
“Thanks, we will!”
Mom turned to dad. “They seem like nice people.”
“I don’t know, something about them strikes me as a bit odd.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“This whole ‘hockey’ business’.”
Mom rolled her eyes and walked off.
As I stood on the porch, I saw Jackie glance back briefly.
“If these people are aliens or spies, they’re really convincing,” I thought to myself, "or maybe, they’re just Canadian and weird.”

[KaiYeves]

Canadian... and weird.

Off-topic: I want to draw up a diagram of what timeline all of my stories and the stories they've crossed over take place in. Have you ever thought of a "reality number" for the Duct Tape-verse? (You know, like the Marvel Universe is Universe 616?)

[Gemini]

After a night filled with dreams of being abducted by maple leaf-shaped spaceships, I realized that the sun was out.
“Go away, it’s too early” I growled at the sun. “Talking to inanimate objects? You should really seek professional help.” It’s bad when the voices in your head tell you that you need help. Looking at my alarm clock, I noticed that the time was 6:00, why wasn’t the alarm goi- RRRRRRIIIIINNNNGGG. I slapped at the thing frantically to get it to turn off. Rolling over, I was met by the familiar silhouette of the classic “Gray Alien.” I tensed up and then the shape spoke.
“Rise and shine son!” I squinted, the figure resolved itself into my dad.
“Dad?”
“Who else would I be?” He shook his head and walked out the room; I could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen.
“Les, breakfast is ready!” I groggily staggered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. As the morning conversation went on, the subject of last light came up.
“That girl seemed to be taking a liking to you, Les.” Yes, she did, was it some of sort of ruse?
“I don’t know, I still don’t trust those...Canadians or whatever they are.” As I mentioned earlier, Dad has always been a bit of a xenophobe; on the other hand, If he had seen the things I have, his paranoia would be well grounded. However, if they were studying us, I was bound and determined to study them, too, waiting for any sort of sign of their true nature. Well, whatever happens today is going to be interesting.
On the way out of the driveway, I almost didn’t notice the unmarked white delivery van across the street. Not giving it much thought, I headed to school. Upon arriving in my first period class, I noticed the Johnson duo sitting near the window with Kelly and Bill; I joined them.
“So, what’s new?”
“Not , much Les. I was on the phone with Walter last night.” Kelly seemed happy about something.
“Oh?”
“He says he’s got a new fuel mixture that he’s positive is going to work this time.”
“Fantastic! How soon can we have it in a rocket?”
“He says he can have it by the end of the week.”
“How about a launch Saturday, then? “
“Sounds good to me. “
“Oh, can we come? I remember Les saying something about that last night.” Jack joined in.
“I don’t see why not.” Bill and Kelly looked at me funny for a brief moment, and shrugged an “ok”. I noticed a couple of goons drawing a rather crude cutaway diagram of a rocket on the blackboard. I just rolled my eyes; they were mocking us. The idiots looked at their masterpiece, laughed, and sat down at their respective seats. My math teacher, Mr. Wiggins, shot a glance at the drawing looking somewhat disgusted before erasing it, and then at us muttered something about “blowing yourselves up.” He wasn’t exactly supportive of our endeavors.

To be continued...


As a side note, the last part of that is based loosely on a real event from my 12th grade English class.

[KaiYeves]

Ugh, sorry to hear that last bit. (But you know how it works out- someday you'll be a famous scientist and they'll be working at the Wall-Mart checkout.)

[Gemini]

It's cool, ironically, what they were mocking was actually related to this series ( I was drawing a comparison chart between the Enterprise, Challenger, and Aurora). Anyway I had about six hours to kill on the way back from the beach today so I managed to get some more written.

“Alright, class, go to page 354 in your text books , today, we’ll be talking about conic sections.” I paid just enough attention to take notes, but the senioritis was taking its toll. In the back, several people passed notes, since the cell phone wouldn’t be invented for another twenty years and the text message not for another twenty after that. Several people in the back were asleep; Mr. Wiggins made Ben Stein look like Billy Mays (as I’d tell my grandson). The rest of the day was, oddly enough, business as usual. However, there was one instance of note.
As Marlon and his cronies were coming down the hallway, they noticed Jack coming out of his fourth period class and surrounded him.
“So, I hear you’re from Canada, eh? “ Apparently, using an over-exaggerated Canadian accent is good comedy to them.
“You Canadians are like Yankees, except worse. We don’t take too kindly to your type down here, just be glad you’re white.” Nathan Bedford Forrest Wilhite, aka “Fungus” was Silversmith’s ead lackey. Fungus grabbed Jack by the collar and looked at him.
“You know what, you’re so white you look like you would glow in the dark. Hey, you know where it’s dark? The janitor’s closet.” Fungus was hatching an idea with what little brain he had. Silversmith glanced at the nearby closet door and then to the large class ring on his finger; he grinned devilishly. My eyes widened; I knew what was about to happen. I wanted to do something, but there five of them and one of me. Jack might have been some help, but he was kind of scrawny and didn’t look like he had much fight in him; neither did I for that matter. I felt someone’s presence behind me and turned around: Rick Watley and Jackie.
“We need to do something quick or he’s in for a world of hurt here shortly.” Rick used to be a member of Silversmith’s gang back when he was on the baseball team; he used top pick on me all the time during freshman year until I finally got fed up with it and knocked him senseless; We had been friends ever since. There were now three of us to five, slightly better odds.
“Hey, Fungus, get your hands off of him!” Jack just dangled nonchalantly in Fungus’s clenched fists.
“ Yeah, you and what army: Benedict Arnold and Captain Canada’s sister there? Hur Hur!” Normally, I would be leery of a girl having my back in a potential fight, but after seeing Kelly clobbering Fungus’s sister, Regina, last year when she caught her keying her car, I was willing to give Jackie the benefit of a doubt.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“You really wanna help this freak?”
“Yeah, well, he’s our freak, so drop him!” He looked at Marlon and he nodded begrudgingly.
“This isn’t over!” Marlon didn’t look too happy about something. Right at the moment, the bell to go to class rang; the four of us parted and went to class. On the way to class Jackie turned back to me.
“Thank you! He’s always getting himself into these sorts of things. ”
“Anytime. I am so sorry about this; not everyone here’s like that. ”
Pulling into the driveway I caught a glimpse someone getting climbing out of the mystery van. Whoever it was, they were wearing a grey trench coat and Stetson with a green feather in the brim: Roy? They were gone before I could get another look.
Getting out of my car, I noticed Bill across the street motioning to me.
“Hey Les, could you come over here real quick?”
“Yeah, bud. What’s up? “
“Can we talk?”
“Su….”
“In the basement, that is.”
“Wait, wha… ooookay. Why?”
“I’ll tell you when you get there.” I followed Bill down to the basement. He handed me a head-sized bowl made of aluminum foil. I looked at it rather bemused.
“Put it on your head.” I reluctantly put the ridiculous foil helmet on my head and he followed suit with a helmet of his own.
“Good, now we can talk.”
“You’re going to think I’m crazy…”
“I know you’re crazy after that little ritual, anyway spill it.”
“I think the Johnson’s are aliens. I mean, isn’t it strange they showed right after that whole deal with the saucer Friday night? Also, what about that weird van.?”
“I know.”
“Wha?”
“Yeah, I thought about it myself “
“Really? Then I guess we don’t need these hats then. They’re so they can’t read our minds.”
“Oh, come to think of it, that’s actually a valid concern. Did I just blow our cover?”
“ There’s no way you could have known. I just had a hunch. “
“Besides, I’m pretty sure it has crossed the minds of just about everybody that was there that night.”
“In that case, can we take these stupid hats off now?”
“Fine”
“Well, what do we do now?”
“We act normal, besides, they seem pretty cool otherwise. “
“Alright then.”

[KaiYeves]

I laughed at the whole tinfoil part there- well done.

[Gemini]

“Oh, by the way ,Les, I heard you did a number on Silversmith and his pals.”
“Oh, yeah!”
“ Yeah, don’t get too excited, Marlon’s dad said he’d sell his Corvette if he got suspended again.”
“Ah yes, I remember that car, all red, shiny, and smug.”
“But still, that was pretty impressive going against those guys with Rick and Jackie.”
“ Well, Rick’s a lot tougher than he looks, and after that whole thing with Kelly last year…”
“ Let me stop you there, Les, Kelly is some kind of freak of nature and frankly, I’m terrified of her. Shoot, if it wasn’t for the Johnsons moving in, I’d wager that saucer was here to pick her up.” I looked at my watch, and realized that I still needed to get it fixed; I was just wearing it out of habit. I then looked at the wall clock: 4:45 pm.
“Well, I need to head out , I’ll see you tomorrow. “
“You, too, bud. Oh, by the way, we’re still flying Saturday, right?”
“Yep.”
“Cool, take it easy.”
“Will do!”

On the way out, I noticed that the back door to the mystery van was slightly ajar and it looked empty. After a quick check to see if the coast was clear, I moved in closer.
Sensing someone behind me, I spun around to see dark trench-coated figure.
“It’s a decoy,” the figure said, “sorry to startle you.”
“M-Mr. Ayers?” I was still trembling.
“Please, call me Roy. So, come up with anything new? ”
“Nothing out of the ordinary , sir .” Well, except for this whole thing with the van and the guy in a trench coat appearing out of nowhere.
“Alright, I’ll be asking the others as well.” He was gone just as quietly as he had arrived. Right at that time, I noticed the Johnsons’ car pass by, presumably Mr. Johnson returning from work. This brought up an important question: where does he work?

On the way to school the next day, I noticed that very same car pulling on Martin Road, which led straight to the arsenal. This meant one of two things, either he was working somewhere on base, or performing espionage on the base. If he had a portable version of the stun-ray thing, he could move with relative impunity. In fact, back in those days, it wasn’t all that hard to get on the base; one of the guys from the HSFS bragged that he got on to the base by correctly guessing the winner of the Alabama-Georgia game. At school, I addressed Jack and Jackie about the matter; they said he worked at Morton-Thiokol, the United States’ primary manufactured of solid fuel rockets (Like ours, but on a much smaller scale) after having transferred from Bristol Aerospace.
Armed with this information, I could get Roy to check for a “John Johnson “ in the Thiokol employee roster and… I suddenly felt a tinge of guilt about doing that; which was probably part of their plan. I reminded myself that no matter what happens, I have to keep national, maybe even global security in focus. That afternoon, I called up the number Roy gave me.
“Hello, this is Redstone Arsenal Military Police Headquarters, how my I help you?” The girl on the other end of the line didn’t sound too much older than me.
“Can I speak to Roy Ayers?”
“Mr. Ayers is out right now, can I leave a message?”
“Sure, could you see if he can run the Thiokol employee roster for ‘John Johnson’? Tell him Lester Wilkins called.”
“Sure can! Have a nice day sir.”
“You, too”
With that done, I rushed out the door; Walter had decided that a ground test of one of his engines was in order tonight. Walking up to the hearse, I had to chuckle at the Hula girl on the dash that been added since the last time I’d rode in the thing.
“You like her, she was my idea.”
“Odd place for a Hula girl, in a hearse that is. Now you need some fuzzy dice.”
“Fuzzy dice, now that’s ridiculous.”
In the back of the vehicle were Jack and Jackie.
“All right, all we need are Kelly, Walter, and Rick and we're good to go.
It was already dark when we reached the Gunderson farm, so we had to use the hearse’s headlights to see to set our equipment up, including a rudimentary test stand that Rick had concocted. Soon, a second set of headlights appeared: Saul’s Jeep.
“Hey guys, you think it’s going to work this time?”
“We’re about to find out.” Walter seemed confident.
“Well, in case it doesn’t , I made you guys a bunker.” He pointed at a small earthen mound about 50 feet from the launch area that had been plowed up with a tractor.
“Also,” Rick announced, “I’m using tonight as an opportunity to test out my electrical ignition system.”
As Rick and Walter got the system hooked up, Saul moved to a distance of about 200 feet away; the rest of us huddled behind the mound. After the two of them returned, I noticed rick holding a small metal box with a house light switch on it.
“Okay,” Rick said excitedly, “here we go : 3…2…1” The rocket engine sputtered at first, then shot brilliant red flame into the night sky, illuminating the surrounding area before burning out. Cheers, applause, and shouts of “way to go Walter!” ensued. Chances of Saturday being a success were starting to look better and better.

[KaiYeves]

Yay, more story! Very well done, liked it a lot.

[Gemini]

Still giddy from the successful test firing, the bumpy dirt road out to the farm didn’t bother us nearly as much as normal. Curious as to how late it was, I looked down at my watch; it was still broken.
“Does anyone have the time?”
“Yeah, “Walter called from the cab, “it’s 9:35.”
“Thanks Walt!”
“Don’t call me that!”
“ Don’t you have a watch on, Les ?” Jackie said bemusedly.
“ Yeah, it got fried by a flying sa… uh…damaged recently.” Jack’s eyes shot in my direction and I tensed up a bit, but looking at Jackie, it was hard to stay tensed up long.
“So how was life in Canada?” Thanks Kelly, nice save there.
“It’s cold, very cold,” Jack began, “and not a lot of sunlight where we grew up in. The Alabama weather this time of year is actually very comfortable to us. However, we sunburn fairly easy. ” Looking at his , they didn’t move quite right, almost like one of those creepy dolls with the moving eyes ( Seriously, who ever thought those were a good idea? Those things are majorly unsettling. ). At first, I thought he might have a lazy eye, but looking at Jackie, hers were the same exact way; it was like they had tripped and fell into the uncanny valley. Why had I never noticed this before? Maybe it was related to the low lighting.
“The sun and I don’t get along very well either. How do you like it here?”
“So far, it’s been great, southern hospitality and what not. Your mom’s an excellent cook, Les.”
“I’ll be sure to tell her that! You’re not mad about the whole thing yesterday?”
“Not at all, trust me there are morons where ever you go. I believe it was Albert Einstein that said ‘Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.’” I laughed and nodded in agreement, still trying to figure what the deal with the freaky eye movement was. Suddenly, the hearse came to halt and Walter exited, we were almost home.
Upon arriving at Bill’s house, Kelly waited until everyone else had left.
“Les, do you have a minute?”

[KaiYeves]

I agree regarding the dolls.

[Gemini]

Also, I apologize for any grammatical errors, as I tend to think faster than I type and occasionally a word or three gets omitted.

[Gemini]

“Yeah , sure, what do you need? Nice save back there, by the way.”
“Thanks, about that… I think we can probably rule out the Soviet hypothesis at this point. “
“What do you mean? Wait, is it the eye thing with the Johnson twins.”
“You picked up on that, too?”
“Yeah, also something else I noticed was that their pupils weren’t dilating. You know how human eyes react to light differences, right? Well, theirs were small, like in bright sunlight and they looked almost painted on, like they weren’t real or something.” So I wasn’t crazy after all. On the other hand, Kelly looked kind of unusual herself, being a ginger after all (which Bill can attest to), but still very human though.
“On the other hand, they’ve really made no indication that they’re hostile in anyway.”
“True, my dad and I have come up with a few theories.”
“One, they’re on a peaceful research mission for their home planet; two, they may be refugees from dying planet and are attempting to start a new life on earth; three, they may vanguards for a coming invasion force, since they are so close to the Arsenal.”
“Well, I did see John going towards the Arsenal this morning; Jack said he worked at the Thiokol plant. I called the base MP headquarters to see if I could get Roy to run their employee roster; hopefully I’ll hear from him tomorrow. “
“Good thinking. One more thing, they may even be non-biological.”
“Wait, you mean like, robots?”
“It makes about as much sense as anything else we’ve discussed. Well, it’s getting late; take it easy, Les.”
“You, too.”

>short update, I know.

[Gemini]

At breakfast Wednesday morning, an article on the non-being-read side of my dad’s newspaper caught my eye.
“Hey Dad, can I see that news paper you’re reading?”
“The funnies are over in that pile” he said, pointing at another pile of papers on the non-occupied side of the table. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He smirked at me and hand over the paper while Mom shook her head; I searched for the headline that piqued my interest. It read:
MYSTERY FIREBALL LIGHTS UP TOWN
Reading further, I noticed several eye-witness accounts of the “meteor” last Friday, but nothing about any saucer-shaped craft. Another article looked more promising:
LACEY SPRINGS MAN SEEES OBJECT IN TENESSEE RIVER
My eyes bugged out as I read.
“Les, are you alright? You have touched your breakfast.”
“I’m fine.” I inhaled my food (which I regretted later that day) , grabbed my book bag, and bolted toward the door.
“Aren’t you going t say ‘goodbye’?”
“Bye!”
According to the article, a man was out fishing early Saturday morning and noticed a luminous disk moving just below the water about 300 ft offshore, stopping not far from his location. Some local cops that arrived on the scene claimed to have seen the object just before it went dark. Lucky for me, where they were was near the Clement C. Clay Bridge and that was just where I was headed. If I timed things just right, I might be able to make it there and back and still be on time for class. Not really expecting to see anything, I peered over the left side of the bridge.
There was something down there alright, as indicated by the flotilla of frogmen-carrying olive-drab boats (including an old DUKW) congregated on a single spot in the river; On the shore were several military-looking trucks. Being so near the Arsenal, most people probably just assumed it was a training exercise and of no concern. “Curiouser and Curiouser” I muttered to myself as I sped off toward the school.

[KaiYeves]

I'm really glad you're still keeping this up, Gem.

[Gemini]

Thanks! I'm glad your still reading them

Cover I did in GIMP tonight:

[KaiYeves]

I like it. A lot.