“Dad’s tried. We all have,” she says, trying to calm my father. “He’s just not capable. And he asked for us because he feels closer to us right now.”
“Well, it’d be nice if Earl could be more responsible for himself and try being...” he grasps for the right words, “... try being a little more rational.” It’s quiet for a moment before Dad continues softly. “I’m sorry, hon. This just isn’t the way I like to start out on Sundays.”
I’m heading down the stairs as I hear him finish up. “What’s going on?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen.
“You were over that way last night. Did you see anything?”
I have a difficult time answering my dad sometimes, so I take a few seconds before I start. “You mean at the hangars?” Dad nods. “Some emergency lights drove in as we were packing up to come home. That’s about it.”
“Your Uncle Earl got himself arrested last night,” Mom states. I strain to make a surprised look. “Seems he was trying to get inside that shiff thing. Now he thinks they’re hiding something because he thinks he saw some soldiers guarding it.” She gets a curious look on her face. “Did Jared mention anything to you about a special cargo?”
“I, uh, we wondered why there wasn’t a pilot,” I stammer, “but he didn’t mention anything else special about it.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you boys didn’t go investigate or we’d probably have to bail you out, too!” Dad heads for the door. “Let’s get this over with,” he says to Mom.
In another minute they are out the door. I watch as they go down the drive in Mom’s car. Dad is driving a little faster than usual. He’s pretty worked up.
I hear Gramps’ voice behind me. “What’s all the ruckus?”
I turn away from the door. He is leaning against the frame of the hall passage. His robe is loosely tied and the stubble of his grey beard is plainly visible as he rubs sleep lines out of his face.
“Earl got busted,” I say, quickly retelling what I just heard.
“Hmmm,” Gramps replies lazily, starting across the kitchen floor. “Sounds like Earl alright. He’s plenty smart in other ways, you know.” He gets some coffee before sitting down at the table. “Sometimes I wonder how your mother ended up so right. Can you imagine having Earl for a brother growing up?”
I don’t answer, but think about how often I have wished I did have a brother or a sister. I guess it could be worse. I get a bowl down from the cupboard and pour myself some cereal for breakfast. I hope the discussion will take another turn, and it does.
“Sooooo,” Gramps begins again, trailing his o’s after a sip out of his mug. “What did you and your buddy see last night?” I note some suspicion in his voice.
“Not much,” I answer quietly through a mouthful of cereal. I swallow before continuing. “The moon was pretty bright so we spent a lot of time trying to find the robot colony.”
I take another bite glancing up as Gramps takes another sip of coffee. He’s eyeing me over the rim of his cup. I feel a cold rush through my shoulders.
“That’s funny,” Gramps continues. I tense up wondering what he would say next. “Henrietta and I didn’t ride long, and when we got back we decided to walk the stiffness out of our legs.” I try to look calm but doubt it’s working. He continues. “We walked down that path you always take - up to The Hill? - thinking maybe we’d join you and look at some stars, too.” I take a swallow, set my spoon down, and sit back to look at him with my best innocent look. He’s grinning like he knows he’s got me on something. “It took us a while but we got there. Or at least where we thought you’d be.”
I try to think up a quick response but my mind is racing. I just look at my grandfather and say, “we walked over to Jared’s for something to drink.”
“Uh huh,” he grunts through another sip of coffee. “I was surprised you’d left your telescopes behind.” He waits a bit, visually searching me before getting up to head for the hallway. “Well, sometimes it’s best to keep secrets and sometimes it’s not.” He stops at the doorway. “But you know, I don’t care much for the government after what they did with my pension. And sometimes it’s good to have another mind helping to work through your problems,” he says, and passes through the doorway.
“Wait!” I call after a little hesitation. His head pops back through the door. He has a smile on his face. I feel I can trust him. “You won’t tell Mom and Dad?” I ask, wanting a little more assurance.
“Son,” he grins, “if your mother knew everything I’ve ever been up to…” he shakes his head in a way that makes me wonder.
“This is going to take some time.”
“Oh. Okay,” he says, seeming a little humored. But he tops off his mug and sits back down across from me as I take another bite of cereal and try to decide where to start.
“Uncle Earl is right this time,” I cautiously start. “At least partially. They are hiding something. He thinks it’s aliens again, but that’s not it.” Gramps looks a little surprised, maybe at my defense of Earl, and sits back in his chair crossing his arms. I look at him, and decide I’d better start at the beginning.
For the next fifteen minutes, I tell the story from Friday night; the landing, the guards, and the box Earl, Jared, and I had seen come off the shiff. I reason, as much for myself as for Gramps, that because Earl was further away and couldn’t hear the conversation on the ground, he concluded that what he had seen was the alien he had always been looking for.
I tell Gramps about the way the box almost floated away from the guards. He becomes a little more interested. Then I start in with last night’s story, skipping directly to the part about finding the powdery substance on the shiff’s ceiling and almost getting caught, except for Earl showing up.
I’m quivering as I finish. I hadn’t had time to think about it since last night and now, retelling the story, what we’d done really hits me. I look up. The expression on my grandfather’s face is more serious than I have seen in a long time. Maybe he is a little surprised by the truth. But then, so am I.
“So Earl saved your butt!” he says, sounding proud while shaking his head in amazement. “What are you going to do now?”
I hadn’t thought about it much. “Analyze it, I guess.” It seems like the best answer. “I’ve dreamed about something like this for years.” I smile. He smiles. I don’t think he knows me well enough to know my dreams but he is about to find out, big time.
“Can I see it?” he asks curiously.
I nod. “It’s upstairs.”
We head upstairs to get the flashlight. I wonder if I’ve done the right thing; letting my grandfather in on the story. I panic for just a moment wondering what Jared will say. Then I relax. What’s done is done.
I walk into my room and pick up the jeans I had worn the night before, patting the pockets. No flashlight. I quickly run my hands through the pockets. No flashlight! I throw the jeans on the floor, getting down on my hands and knees to look under my night table and bed. No flashlight!!
“What’s wrong?” Gramps asks, getting a little anxious.
“We put the envelope with the stuff inside it in a flashlight so it would be heavy enough to not float away. Now I can’t find the flashlight.”
“Maybe Jared has it?”
“No. He gave it to me because I’m supposed to figure out how it works.” Panic is turning into alarm.
“Maybe it’s upstairs in your loft.”
My telescope is on the floor partially under my jeans. “I doubt it.”
“I’ll go get dressed and help you look,” he says as he heads down the hall to his room.
I feel sick. I get dressed and pick up the telescope to take it out to the loft.
Gramps comes into the kitchen as I’m heading out the door. I stop and wait for him.
“I don’t think it’s going to be out there,” I say to him.
“Let’s look to make sure.” He tries to sound hopeful. “Where else could it be?”
I purse my lips and shake
my head. “It must have fallen out of my pocket somewhere on the trip back. I remember checking for it when we came up out of the prep area, but after that... I don’t know.”
“Did you come straight home?”
“We sat and rested a little at The Hill, but that’s all.”
“Then that’s where it’s got to be. Probably fell out of your pocket while you were resting or something.”
We head into the shed and up the stairs. I know it’s not here because I know we didn’t come up here when we got home. Jared just got in his car and went home. It must to be out at the shelter. I feel the urge to go out and look right away.
“So, let’s take a walk,” Gramps suggests. He seems very serious, something I rarely see.
“I guess,” is all I can say, and we head back down the stairs to leave.
As we come out shed door, I hear the crunching of tires on gravel from a car coming up the drive. I look over to see Jared’s hybrid. I can also see he isn’t alone. His dad is seated in the passenger’s seat, but I can’t tell who else is in back. I walk over to the car as it stops. Jared and his dad get out first. The passenger in the back gets out a moment later; it’s the captain from the night of the landing. The same one that had come out to The Hill.
“Hi Tyler,” Mr. Charles offers in his casual voice. “Hi Tom,” he greets Gramps. Jared nods at me but says nothing. “This is Captain Stiles. He’s the government’s liaison to the contractor overseeing the shiff’s decommissioning over at the launch facility.”
“Hey Carl,” Gramps replies to Jared’s dad shaking his hand. Then he offers his hand to Captain Stiles saying, “nice to meet you too, captain.” I watch him look intently into Captain Stiles’ eyes with a strange smile I have never seen before. I stay back, wondering what’s going to happen. Jared slightly shakes his head from side to side while the men aren’t watching. I wonder what he means.
“Tyler?” the captain starts out, turning to me, “Jared tells me you are interested in many aspects of the space program. I was wondering if you might want to hear about some of our programs?”
I feel trapped, maybe even guilty, but I try not to show any emotion. “Yeah. That sounds interesting.” I stand there for another awkward moment, that seems like forever, trying to keep a straight face.
“Maybe there’s somewhere we could talk?” the captain continues. “Jared has also told me you have a pretty nice work area for your own projects. I’d like to see it if I may.” He looks towards the shed.
I begin to wonder what else Jared may have told him. I look at him again for some clue. “Sure. It’s this way,” I answer and begin to walk to the shed.
“You want to join us, Tom?” Jared’s dad asks.
“No thanks. I’m too old for the space race, and I’ve got some things of my own to take care of.” Gramps waves as he heads towards the house. “You boys have fun.”
Captain Stiles and Jared’s dad look around my loft for a few minutes. He notices some of my drawings up on the wall and looks keenly at the sketches of spaceships and saucers I’ve drawn.
“Interesting work,” the captain comments.
“Thank you, sir. I like to think about stuff like that.”
“That’s good. We need creative people in the program and you appear to have a good start.”
He walks past the shelves looking at my books. Then he positions himself in front of the desk and opens the top drawer. Panic grips me, but I quickly relax. There’s nothing there that I need to hide. Still, it puts me on guard. I look at Jared who still hasn’t said anything since they arrived.
“So, what are those programs you were referring to?” I ask the captain, trying to redirect his attention.
“Well, a lot of them I can’t say too much about here. Say… this sure is a nice telescope.” He flicks the latch on the case and opens it up. “I heard you two were out star-gazing last night.” He turns and looks straight at me. “See anything... interesting?”
“Nothing unusual,” I calmly state as I turn away from his piercing look. “The moon is always fun to look at when it’s in this phase. We like to try and spot the colony up there. They’re right on the cusp of the horizon and stick out nicely against the black background of space.” I try to sound like an excited school kid. Slowly I conclude that Jared hadn’t said anything more about last night either.
“Yes, I can imagine that’s a pretty sight.” Captain Stiles is sounding a little less interested in what I might have to say, but he continues looking around the room.
“Okay then,” Jared’s dad cuts in, sounding a little impatient. “Hey Tyler, we’re having a press meeting after lunch to formally announce that the shiff is going to be on exhibit soon. Want to join us?”
I’m a little surprised. “Sure!” I exclaim. “Will we be able to go inside it maybe?” It might look abnormal for a kid to get close to the space plane and not ask for a chance to go inside it.
“Captain?” Jared’s dad asks, looking towards the uniformed man.
“Yes. I suppose that could be allowed. We’ve planned on doing some tours.”
“Okay then,” I say and look at Jared, who seems a little bit more at ease at this point.
“I just have to let my grandfather know that I’m going.”
I make my way down the stairs and out of the shed, followed by the other three. I notice that the captain, seeming a little disappointed, is the last one out. As I walk over to the house, Gramps comes out of the door. He has his shop clothes on now.
I tell him about the chance to go see inside the space plane. He smiles and says if I don’t go I’m nuts. We walk over to where the others are getting into the car.
“You’re welcome to join us Tom,” Jared’s dad offers again.
“Thanks,” Gramps replies, “but I’ve got some adjustments to do on my bike. You boys just go and have a good time.” Then he turns his back to the older men and looks at Jared. With a quick wink, he says, “Thanks for giving me the tour of the moon last night. I really enjoyed it and was hoping we could do it again sometime.”
“Ya.. You’re welcome,” stutters Jared, not knowing where the comment came from.
“So you were with the boys last night then?” Stiles asks.
“Yeah… for a little while… until we finally came home,” he says simply. “I haven’t seen anything like that it long time,” he finishes with a smile.
“Funny that Tyler didn’t say anything about that before,” Stiles comments suspiciously.
“How many teenagers do you know who want to admit they spent a Saturday night with their Grandpa? It’s not very cool,” he jokes with the captain as he resumes his walk out to the shed.
The drive to Jared’s is quick. A simple lunch is waiting when we arrive. Kylie has fixed a bunch of sandwiches; bologna, and peanut butter and jelly. I watch as she makes her way around the kitchen. She seems more grownup at home since she had to take over some of the things their mother used to do. It was such a sad day, two years ago, when she died. It didn’t seem fair, “but sometimes that’s just the way life is”, my mom had explained.
After dropping us off at the house, their dad and the captain head straight to the hangar. It’s just the three of us at the kitchen table. Jared sits at one end munching on some chips. Kylie is across from me. She finishes her lunch first.
“So you’re here for the tour?” she asks me.
“Yep,” I say through a mouthful of peanut butter.
“I’m kind of surprised they’re doing it at all.”
“Why’s that?”
“Before they left to go to your house, I thought I heard that Captain Stiles guy tell my dad that something was missing. Or part of something anyway.” She gets up, carrying her dishes to the sink and starts to rinse them off. “I just figured they’d wait until they found it.”
“I wonder what that might be?” Jared grins looking at me.
“I don’t know.” Kylie turns to us. “You guys clear your plates when you’re done. I’m g
oing to change.”
“You’re coming on the tour then?” I ask hopefully.
“Sure. Why not? I want to see inside it too.”
She walks out of the kitchen. I look at Jared. “You ought to be a little more careful,” I caution him. “We could still get in big trouble if we get caught.”
“Man, since they didn’t find it at your place, I’m not going to worry about it. Where’d you have it hidden anyway?” I hesitate. He looks straight at me. “Ty?”
“I couldn’t find it this morning,” I whisper. “I don’t know where it is.”
“What?” he shouts under his breath.
“I couldn’t find it this morning!” I say again. “The flashlight wasn’t anywhere.”
“Where’d it go?”
“I don’t know. Gramps and I were talking…”
“Gramps? Your Gramps knows about it now?” Jared is becoming agitated.
“He walked out to The Hill last night after his ride.”
“So what.”
“So we weren’t there,” I remind Jared of the obvious. “Then we were talking about my Uncle Earl getting busted and... well… the whole story just rolled out of my mouth.” I stare at my plate.
“Well that explains why he said he was out there with us.” Jared is calmer now. “Why would your grandfather cover for us like that?” he asks quizzically.
“He doesn’t really like government types or anything to do with them. Something to do with his pension or social security or something. Maybe he just wants to help pull something over on them for a change.”
Jared thinks about that for another minute. “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if that Stiles guy didn’t bug your lab.”
“You think he would?” Then I remember the incident from yesterday morning. “Hey! Do you think they could bug my computer, too?”
“Probably. I’ve read they have what they call ‘sniffers’; programs that can read e-mail and listen to calls and stuff. They give them certain words to check for.”
“You mean people actually do that?” I say in disbelief.
“No. It’s all done with computers. Spy software and all. Stuff they developed during the homeland security program at the start of the century, I think.”
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