by A. D. Winch
Ursula was desperate to drink something more, but she knew she would have to wait. Eric was keen to reach the dart, and he had already dragged himself right to the top of the river bank and was peering over. He looked up and down the river, but he could see nothing.
"It's clear. Let's go."
"But carefully," pleaded Ursula. "We don't know what we are going to find."
They dropped over the side and onto the river bed. A nearby lizard scuttled away and hid behind a rock. It was only then that Ursula realized how silent their surroundings were. Animal, vehicle and aircraft noise were all absent from the desert. There was not even any noise from the crashed dart.
Despite feeling stupid, the children both raised their water pistols and approached the dart. The silver body was covered in dust. In the few places that had remained clean, the sun reflected and caused blinding sparkles of light. Eric shot his water pistol at the dart. The water boiled as it hit the silver shell and then evaporated.
There was still no sign of life, but the children did not relax. They scanned the silver surface nearest to them, but it was all intact. The triangular body panels were secure, and there was no sign of any opening. Cautiously, they moved around the dart's rear. Once again, they scanned the side, and as their eyes neared the front they saw it. Underneath the tip, the silver coating looked thinner, and something was dangling from a small hole.
Eric and Ursula approached tentatively. A thin arm hung down to the ground. It was difficult to make out the colour, but it looked dark in the shade. Eric held back. Now he was this close he was fearful about going any further. The owner of the arm was not dead, he could sense that, but neither did it seem alive. Ursula had no such reservations. The moment she had been increasingly desperate for had presented itself, and she refused to waste any more time. She had gone into autopilot and sat down next to the arm and immediately took out her sampling equipment.
"If you are just going to stand there, the least you could do is point the water pistol at the arm, in case it suddenly comes back to life," she told Eric.
The arm moved lifelessly as she prodded it with her scalpel. Reassured that it would not suddenly grab her, she held it with one hand and cleaned it with antiseptic. The arm took on a brown tinge, and she cut a small arc into the skin. It was not as easy as she had expected and was like cutting through the bark of a tree. She put the piece of flesh into a test tube and placed a bung securely on the end.
"Hand me yours and I'll do the same."
Eric handed her his test tubes, and she repeated the procedure until they were full. After putting them back into her bag, she removed three phials, and Eric handed her three more.
The first syringe needle bent as she tried to place it in the skin.
"Try where you have cut the skin already," Eric suggested.
She followed his advice and managed to extract a dark liquid that she placed in a phial.
"That's strange," Eric commented.
"What is?"
"Johan told me that he found no blood in the alien that he did an autopsy on."
Ursula continued to fill the phials while she considered Eric's words.
"I can't see any veins, so maybe this isn't blood. And maybe the one he dissected was dead, but this one isn't."
"It looks dead to me."
"Me too, but it doesn't feel dead, does it?
Ursula stood up, placed the phials in her bag, and stretched her legs. She allowed herself to smile as she said, "We've got what we came for."
However, as she considered what she had done, the determination that had driven her forward vanished. She glanced back down at the arm, and she began to feel nauseous. The thought of cutting into its skin repelled her, and she had to stop herself from vomiting.
"Let's get back to the pods," Eric told her.
"I need a drink," she said weakly and with a shaking hand put the water bottle to her lips.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, sort of," but Eric knew she was lying.
"Only one gulp," he reminded her. "We will be here until evening."
"Why?" she asked trying to move her mind away from the images that it was fixating on.
"Because we have to make sure that the army finds this."
Ursula was about to ask why again when water from her chin dripped downwards. The drops hit the thin arm and emitted a smell that only Ursula had experienced before. A high pitch squeal followed the smell, and the arm suddenly moved. The dart's silver skin peeled back, but they didn't wait to see what was about to emerge.
"Run!" Eric yelled, but Ursula had already gone.
They sprinted down the river bed as fast as they could and did not stop until they had put a few hundred metres between themselves and the dart. Ursula easily out-sprinted Eric and had to wait for him to catch up with her.
"It hasn't followed us," Eric said, looking back.
"I know, but I think we should get back to the pods."
"Agreed," and they clambered up the bank and walked back over the hot desert.
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Chapter 30 - Diary Entries
The landscape was flat, and they could see everything around them for kilometres. Every few metres, they looked over their shoulders, but they knew that they were not being followed. By the time they had reached the pods, they were covered in sweat and flopped down in the shade out of the sun's reach.
Both children took another gulp from their water bottles and waited for their hearts to slow down. Eric did not understand how he could have walked so far. His leg was hurting, and the pain was starting to dominate his thoughts. He could only think that it was adrenalin that had caused him to forget his injury.
"Let me see it," Ursula said, seeing his face screw up. "Lay on your front."
Eric turned over on the dusty ground, and Ursula pulled up his bloody trouser leg. In the middle of his calf was a dark, symmetrical hole. There was fine, grey powder stuck around the entrance but it had not bled too much. Ursula lifted Eric's leg. To the right of the shin was another larger hole. This one looked more destructive, and blood had poured out of it and down his ankle.
Ursula checked Eric's trouser leg. There were two holes where the bullet had passed through. She balanced his leg against her and took the antiseptic from her bag that she had been given for taking the samples.
"The good news is that I am certain the bullet is not in your leg."
"Thanks, Nurse Benjamin," Eric replied sarcastically. "What's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that this is going to sting."
In one hand, she gripped Eric's ankle as hard as she could while she poured the antiseptic over his calf. Eric bit his lip and thrashed around, but Ursula held on tightly and used her free hand to spread the brown liquid over and into both wounds.
"All done," she said breezily, trying to make light of what she had done and let go of his leg.
Eric wanted to call her all the names under the sun, but as the shock subsided he reluctantly thanked her.
"You're welcome Eric, but I have nothing to stitch with, so we'll need to put something on it."
"Are there any bandages in your bag or in mine?"
Ursula looked, but there was nothing.
"I'll tear off a bit of my clothing and wrap that around it."
"Don't be silly. I've just cleaned the wound. We don't want to put dirt and your sweat onto two holes in your leg."
"I've got it!" Eric cried out. "Do you have any antiseptic left?"
"Yes, a little."
"Then get my red cushion, pour antiseptic onto it and then wrap that around my leg. It will mould itself around my calf and seal the wounds."
A few minutes later, Eric was sitting upright facing Ursula with a bright red bandage covering half of his leg and a smile on his face. The sharp pain had passed, and his injury was throbbing but bearable. Ursula turned her attention to his knuckles, but Eric snatched his hand back. He pulled out the splinters and tended to it as th
ey talked.
"Why did you say we have to make sure the army finds the dart?" Ursula asked him.
Eric thought carefully about his words before replying. He did not want to sound crazy, but also he wanted to be believed.
"Johan and I were together for about twenty days, I think, after we escaped Roswell. It was only the two of us. I hadn't spoken to anyone for weeks, and he was so," Eric tried to find the right word, "free, that we talked a lot. I was curious about what he had done, and asked him lots of questions, and he answered them all. Every one. I found out about his life, about his wife, about his work, and he found out about me. I have never spoken with anyone like I spoke with Johan," he added sadly.
"But you still haven't answered my question."
"On Tuesday, eighth of July, nineteen forty-seven, the Roswell Daily Record reported a flying disc being captured on a ranch. According to Johan, they exaggerated the story. What was actually found were bits of a flying disc - a disc that he had helped build. This was the disc that we just saw crash into the dart. It killed two of Johan's team. I think they were called Ted and Archie, but the bodies were never found.
"I read books about UFOs at your grandparents and I have also seen inside the memories of the alien. I am sure we are now in Roswell, but in July nineteen forty-seven."
"But how can you be sure? What you're saying is impossible!"
"I agree it is but how else do you explain it?"
Ursula did not have a reply.
"Think about it. We left Roswell in November, and the weather was cool. We followed the dart to Centralia, and when we arrived we could see snow on the hilltops. Agreed?"
"Yes."
"When the dart left Centralia it flew out across the sea. It travelled vertically upwards, and we followed it. Up to this point, everything makes sense."
Eric looked at Ursula and waited for her to agree with him.
"Okay."
"The dart falls vertically down to Earth, but rather than end up over the ocean we are here. Do you think 'here' looks like the Roswell we left earlier?"
Ursula looked around. The desert was the same colour, and there was the same lack of life.
"Yes. I think so."
"But think about the temperature right now. If this is Roswell, then it should be a cool November day. Not hot like in July - a summer's day in the desert."
Ursula looked at Eric and shook her head. She understood everything he said. She followed his logic but could not bring herself to believe it.
"Why did the alien go to Centralia first? Why not come straight here to Roswell?" she asked.
"I was wondering the same thing while you cleaned my leg, but I think I have figured it out."
"I’ll have to call you Sherlock," Ursula said sarcastically.
"In Roswell in nineteen forty-seven the army supposedly found two extra-terrestrial bodies. If we hadn't gone to Centralia then there would only be one body but both bodies are needed for us to arrive here."
"Why’s that?"
"Two alien bodies were discovered, but Johan only dissected one - the dead one. Therefore the army found one alive alien and one dead alien. In dissecting the dead one, Johan discovered that the skin had a reaction to water and this is why we have water pistols instead of guns. Professor Larsen knew that the other alien was alive; she wrote about it in her diary. It scared her. It scared her so much that she took samples from Johan's work and using these samples she created us."
"You're not answering my question. You said that both bodies are needed for us to arrive here. Why?" Ursula asked impatiently.
"I have answered it!"
"You haven't. Why did the 'alive alien' need to make a detour to collect the 'dead one' before coming here?"
"Because if they don't then…"
"What?"
"This is going to sound mad."
"What is?" Ursula asked irritably. She understood what Eric was saying but at the same time didn't. It was too unbelievable, and this contradiction was playing havoc with her emotions.
"Our whole lives, our story, began with finding that dart. It's like dominoes. The dart was found. The aliens were kept - one alive and one dead. Johan took samples from the dead alien. Professor Larsen stole these and ran away. Professor Larsen created us. Therefore, if the army does not find the dart with the two aliens then what happens to me and you?"
Ursula did not answer immediately and when she did speak she spoke her words slowly. "We stop existing."
"Exactly."
"But what does that mean?"
"I don't know, but you've seen the films."
"This isn't a film!" Ursula yelled suddenly. "This is my life. We tracked down the alien so we could find a cure. We put ourselves in danger because I want my life back. My old life. The way it was before I did that stupid puzzle in the newspaper. I want to go home! I want to see my grandparents again! I don't want to have gotten this far so that I can cease to exist!"
"It will be okay. Keep your voice down."
"Keep my voice down!" Ursula jumped up. "Why? Why should I keep my voice down? So that rock over there doesn’t hear me? So that bush in the distance can't listen to our conversation? No, I won't keep my voice down and nor will I agree that it will be okay. If we get the army to find the dart then hopefully we'll continue to exist but then what? In three, possibly four months, we're scheduled to die! Look at us. Your hair is no longer blond, and my hair is mainly grey and white. You have nearly as many wrinkles as my Granddad, and I am quite sure I do too."
"But we have samples from the alien," Eric quickly said
"Yes, we have samples from the alien! Hooray! And what use are these if we are stuck here?" She paused. "Answer this, Eric. If we are here in nineteen forty-seven, how did we get here?"
"I…erm, don't know."
"And how are we going to get back?"
"I don't know that either," he replied, the gravity of their situation dawning on him.
"So, we're here." She pointed to the ground. "The people who can help us are," she threw her hands into the air, "somewhere in the future, and we have no idea how we are going to get back! Great, super, fantastic…"
Ursula fell against her pod, her head leant against it, and her words faded away as she began to sob. Eric looked at her and then did something he had never done before. He stood up shakily and took Ursula in his arms. They held onto each other. Two lost young people in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"I'm sorry, Eric," Ursula said from his shoulder. "I'm not angry at you."
"I'm sorry too. I tend to do things without thinking them through. I didn't know we would end up here. Sorry."
"Don't be. No one is blame. It's one of those things."
"Look on the bright side, at least we each know one person here."
"Who's that?"
"Each other." He stopped, and a thought suddenly came to him. He realised that they weren't alone, and smiled as he let go of Ursula. "If we're in Roswell in nineteen forty-seven then so is Johan and so is Professor Larsen."
Ursula wiped her eyes. "Johan can't help us. He doesn't know us yet, and he doesn't have the same amount of knowledge as in our time. He doesn't know about the dart yet either or about aliens. He knows nothing."
"You're right. He doesn't," Eric paused, "but Professor Larsen does. Or she will know soon."
"What do you mean?"
Eric sat back down in the shade, and Ursula joined him.
"Do you remember in the village in Spain the night that we sat outside watching the ants walk across the road?"
"Vaguely."
"Alexander left Johan behind in the forest and I went to collect him. When we got back to Captain Hudson's house, they gave me Professor Larsen's diary and asked me what I thought."
"Yes, I remember now."
"Professor Larsen was taken to see the two alien bodies and the same thing that happened to me happened to her. She had no idea what was going on, but in an instant the live one transferred all its memories, thou
ghts, ideas, knowledge into her head. She thought she was going mad. You know how people say that your life flashes before your eyes before you die. Maybe the alien thought it was going to die and did the same thing but passed this on to someone else."
"If I'm honest, that sounds stupid," she sniffed, "but you read her diary. I didn't."
"I don't remember exactly what she wrote. I do remember that she wrote something like, all that I thought was impossible I can now make possible. She also wrote about travelling through space and time, and seeing the future. I'm sure she can help us."
"When did she write her diary?"
"Sometime in the nineteen sixties."
"So we have to wait at least thirteen years!" Her voice rose again. "We'll be dead!"
"No, we won't. She wrote the diary then, but she was remembering back to when she was taken to see the aliens with Johan."
"When was that? I don't understand what you are saying."
"Johan told me that he and Professor Larsen worked on the dart from the moment it arrived on the base. If the army finds it tonight, then this will be tomorrow or Tuesday 8th July. That's if tomorrow's newspaper reports what has happened today. Does that make sense?"
Ursula nodded. "I think so."
"But Johan and Professor Larsen couldn't open the dart. He also told me that after six weeks of getting nowhere, they were taken to see the alien."
"Okay. So you think we have to wait six weeks until Professor Larsen may possibly be able to help us. That's half of the time we have left!"
"Do you have any better ideas?"
The conversation went silent.
"No," Ursula confessed. "But where are we going to find her? I don't want to go on another base again for as long as I live."
"Nor do I, and we won't need to. In nineteen forty-seven, the base here in Roswell is not a secret one. It is just called an Army Air Field. The personnel stationed here were allowed off the grounds. Johan and Ingrid went into town every Friday night for a meal and to see a movie. Johan told me this when talking about his wife. We'll find them in one of these two places. Roswell's not a big town. I'm sure we can find them."
"What do they look like?"
