“Well I don't know what gonna happen on the way back,” said Sam. “But Michael will probably faint again.”
Michael jumped up again angry. “I didn't faint! Holy GOD!”
Randy laughed. “He's not gonna be much of an astronaut if he faints all the time. The first guy to faint on Mars.”
“Say that again I dare you!”
Everyone laughed.
“I didn't faint! And the next one that says it is gonna get punched!” Michael was mad enough to explode. The thought that he might not be able to be an astronaut really aggravated him. Being the first one on Mars was all he thought about.
“He didn't faint,” said Johnny. “He just passed out a little.”
Michael jumped on Johnny and took him in a headlock. They started to wrestle but they were soon tired and stopped. They all ate some beef jerky and drank some water and told a few more stories of what it was like in the saucer. In just over an hour they picked up Randy and continued on.
“Randy, we'll be spending the night inside the saucer,” said Sam.
“We're going inside it?” Randy had a futuristic image of what the saucer might look like inside.
In a few minutes they could see a moose off in the distance and since it didn't have any antlers they figured that it was a cow, but it was so far away they couldn't tell much about it. In fact because of the distance they weren't sure that it was a moose but what else would be that big. Two blue jays flew over making a racket and Randy thought that there was nothing quite like the beauty of the forest, nature stirred something deep down inside of him.
They arrived at the area of the saucer at just after four in the afternoon. It was quite warm and almost seemed magical as the sun sparkled through the trees. A large Blue Spruce was near the edge of the cliff and as soon as they saw it they knew they were at the location of the saucer. They put Randy down and they all stared at him.
Randy looked puzzled. “What?”
“This is it,” said Michael. “We're here!”
Randy looked all around but couldn't see it. “What are you talking about? I don't see any saucer.”
“Remember its stuck in the cliff,” said Sam. “Come on guys let's show him.”
Randy looked puzzled as he thought about what they were saying. If it was stuck in the cliff how the heck was he going to get into it? Again he was having bad thoughts about the situation. It sounded like another dangerous undertaking was coming up.
Sam, Michael, Johnny and Jake picked up Randy in the chair and brought him to the edge of the cliff. They maneuvered the chair so that he could look down and see it. Randy looked over the chair and down. More than half of the saucer was stuck into the cliff. It looked as though it was made of pure silver and was about a dozen feet down. Although it did look silver he thought that he could see a slight glow to it, or perhaps he was imagining it. They really did have an alien saucer!
Randy's mind was going a mile a second. If that thing was real it was going to be a fantastic summer. What could be better than having an alien saucer to play in? But then the reality of it set in. “Now wait freaking minute guys! How the hell do you think you're gonna get me down there? If I fall it's like two hundred feet to the ground. Are you guys all crazy?”
“Geeze Randy,” said Johnny. “Are you gonna need nerve pills or what! We'll lower you down with the rope ladder.
“How do you get inside?”
“That is gonna blow your mind,” said Johnny. “Just wait till you see how we get in.”
Randy couldn't imagine what he was talking about. Although he wasn't comfortable with it he knew that there was no way they were going to take him back home now because they had reached the saucer and that was it. He was so impressed that it was real and he couldn't wait to see what was inside. What kind of controls were inside an alien saucer? Who would have ever believed that they had discovered a genuine alien ship? They could probably sell it for a billion dollars. His mind almost couldn't gasp it. Where was its home planet? He would never had believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. If the ship was empty where were the aliens? Randy wondered if it had travelled faster than the speed of light. What a fantastic summer this was turning out to be; he sure hoped that it wasn't all a dream.
But maybe it was some sort of trick?
Randy's sense of right and wrong told him that this was incredibly dangerous. “I don't know guys.”
“That's it! I've had enough of this.” Jake walked to the end of the cliff and jumped.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
JAYDEN WAS AWAKENED FROM HIS NAP inside the tent when he heard a large branch crack in the distance; he had been dreaming about drinking a large cup of strong black coffee, the cup had been white with a coffee bean on it. In fact the smell of it was still stuck in his brain when he sat up. He was missing his daily cup of java. It had been such a vivid dream that he could still taste the coffee; he had always been a graphic dreamer. Jayden listened intently, feeling the lump that was under the tent and the rough surface of the tent's floor, thinking that he had heard something else moving in the distance. He desperately hoped that the law wasn't closing in on them. He pushed Brody awake and he sat up looking confused.
Brody rubbed his eyes and yawned. “What do you want? I was dreaming that I was driving two hundred miles an hour in my new red Ferrari. They had a roadblock in front of me but I wanted to see what was going to happen.”
“Brody, you flew right over them and just kept on going.”
“Oh yeah?”
Jayden went outside and looked around but couldn't see anything. He had an uneasy feeling as he continued to scan the area. Then he heard a crow cawing in the distance and when he looked in its direction he saw them. Although he couldn't be sure it did look like two police officers and maybe even a police dog on a leash way down there. “Brody, get the hell up I think it's the police.”
Brody ran outside and looked in the direction that Jayden was looking; he could see someone but he couldn't tell who it was. Perhaps it was the law but maybe it wasn't. “Are you sure that's the police?”
“I think so.”
“Jayden, what do we do?”
“We get the hell out of here that's what we do. We run.”
Jayden quickly knocked down the tent and rolled it up. Brody picked up the bear cub and started running. He was quite sure that Brody would win a contest for being stupid had there been such a thing.
“Brody you idiot, put that bear down!” He had to laugh quietly at his friend's buffoonery because he had to know that he couldn't run and carry something that heavy.
Brody was forced to put the bear down because he was too heavy to carry, and the cub immediately took off in the direction of the police officers. The police dog started barking at the bear and when the officers saw the cub they took off running in the opposite direction, thinking that the mother bear would soon be upon them, and also believing that maybe the dog had been tracking the bear and not the bank robbers.
In just over three hours Brody and Jayden had to stop for a rest and Brody was already missing his bear and was a little depressed because of it. He sat and stared forlornly at a large rock in the river. He crossed his arms as he sulked, angry that Jayden wouldn't let him go back for him.
“Why can't I go back for my bear?”
“It isn't your bear.”
“It is my bear,” Brody insisted. “I'm its mother now.”
“If I had a mother like you I'd shoot myself. You're not a bear so you can't be its mother.” Jayden was getting more than a little annoyed. “You need to give your head a shake and come back to reality. You can't be that bear's mother.”
“Oh yes I can be his mother. I adopted him.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes that is right.”
“Brody, you are crazier than a pet bedbug.”
Brody thought about that. “Pet bedbugs are not crazy. If they're someone's pet then they are being taken care of and being fed and that's not cra
zy, that's smart.”
Jayden thought about it. “You might have a point there. Something is definitely wrong when you start to make sense.”
The cub came running towards them, and when Brody saw him he ran towards the bear with his arms out. They were the oddest of couples. Like an impala befriending a lion.
“That is one stupid bear,” said Jayden. He was annoyed at and jealous of the animal. Why didn't that bear just run off? It was unnatural. Maybe that dumb bear was sick?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
RANDY HAD AT FIRST BEEN FRIGHTENED when Jake jumped off the cliff, but then he realized by the reactions of the others that he must be okay because no one else was concerned. He was told that Jake was now inside the saucer. Randy watched as Sam tied the rope ladder to the tree. Sam turned and stared at Randy as he thought about what would be the best way to get Randy inside the ship. His cute smile gave Randy pause, was his idea going to end with him falling two hundred feet to his death? Would he soon rest in pieces?
“Johnny, Michael, you guys tie him to my back and I'll climb down. That should be the safest way to do it,” said Sam. He liked his idea but Randy wasn't so sure. This way Sam could concentrate on climbing and not worry about Randy falling. But he had to be secure.
Randy was tired of complaining and he had been okay so far so he decided to let Sam do it because at this time he just had to see what was inside the alien ship. They had all worked hard to get him here and the trip had been both fun and terrifying. It was time to trust Sam, besides if he fell so did Sam. Michael and Johnny tied Randy to Sam's back and checked the security of the ropes several times and then Sam stood up and walked around with him on his back to make absolutely sure that he was properly fastened. They thought they might have a difficult time untying him once he was in the ship he was so well tied to Randy. Sam threw the rope ladder off the side of the cliff and carefully started to climb down.
“Randy, are you okay?” Sam asked.
“I'm okay, but if my parents could see me now they'd kill me for sure.” Randy decided that it was better if he didn't look down.
When Sam was about two feet over the saucer he jumped off the rope ladder and landed inside the ship where Jake was waiting for them. Jake pulled him more toward the side of the saucer and started to untied Randy and they both watched his face as he looked around. This thing really appeared to be genuine. It had to be the biggest secret on the whole freaking planet.
“Sam, how the heck did we get in here?” said Randy. “Where was the door?”
Jake laughed at the look of amazement on Randy's face. “There's no door, the saucer just lets you in.”
“Yeah,” said Sam. “It just let us come right through the walls just like magic. Randy, you better come a little more this way before Michael and Johnny land on top of you.”
Randy managed to pull himself out of the way just in time as Michael jumped into the saucer, and when he got out of the way Johnny jumped in too.
“Well Randy, what do you think?” said Michael.
“This is un-freaking-believable! I can't believe I'm inside a flying saucer. The walls are so weird, like floating metal. How does it do that?” Randy started to tap on the floor which felt more solid than anything he had ever felt, and when he felt the wall his hand sank into it and it scared him. No way for any of them to understand this advanced technology because even the smartest scientist on earth wouldn't be able to understand it.
Sam laughed. “We told you it was real. Look at his face.”
It was almost more than his brain could handle as Randy scanned the entire ship with a perplexed look on his face. “Shit I can't believe it. This has to be a dream! How is this possible?”
Jake shook his head. “It's no dream.”
Randy started to question if he was in danger. He did seem to worry more than the others and wondered if they were safe. “You guys aren't scared that the ship will take off with us?”
“Nah,” said Sam. “Not only is it broken but it's stuck in the cliff. Must have been flying pretty fast when it crashed here.”
“Yeah, I guess. I wonder what happened to the aliens?” Randy wondered what the occupants would have looked like.
“Don't know,” shrugged Johnny.
Jake shrugged. “This thing could have been stuck here for a thousand years for all we know.”
“Watch this,” said Michael. He got up and stuck his head through the wall and from outside his head was sticking out of the saucer surrounded by an almost clear bubble. When he pulled his head back in Randy's mouth was hanging open.
“How the hell did you do that?”
Johnny put his arm right through the saucer and pulled a leaf off a small tree that was growing from the cliff. “Alien technology and we have no idea how it works. Now do you see why we were so sure that it's from another planet?”
Randy nodded. “That means that there are real aliens out there, and not only that but they've been coming here. How freaking scary is that? I wonder what they look like?”
Suddenly a two dimensional circle about the size of a basketball appeared on the wall. It was as bright as a television screen and inside it were hundreds of small colorful triangles that were changing colors and swapping places with one another. Everyone watched as it slowly moved across the wall. Sam looked a little worried.
“What is that?” Randy asked.
Sam got up and followed it around wondering what it was doing. “We've never seen that before.”
Randy followed the circle and then turned to watch all their puzzled faces. “Guys, it doesn't seem like this saucer is totally broken. What if it fixes itself? What if that's what that thing is doing? I don't wanna be taken to some freaking planet a zillion miles away.”
Michael was annoyed. “It's stuck in the cliff remember. Holy GOD! We need to get this guy a trunk full of nerve pills.” But as he considered it more it did make him nervous. What if Randy was right?
Sam thought about what Randy had said. What if it could fix itself? He wasn't sure what to say about the situation. He imagined the ship taking off with them trapped inside. Their food would soon run out and the adventure could turn into a real nightmare. They might never ever get home again. He knew he was letting his imagination run away with him.
The circle came off the wall and hovered. It was completely silent as eight of the triangles came out of it and morphed into small colorful pyramids that fell and bounced off the floor, sounding a bit like plastic hitting steel. They all backed up as far away from it as they could. The circle vanished and the pyramids formed a square on the floor as they continued to change colors. Several pyramids remained by themselves on the floor.
Michael picked up a triangle and looked closely at it. “Its vibrating. It tickles.”
“That thing could be radioactive,” said Randy. He was getting more frightened by the minute. The saucer didn't seem to be all that broken. “I don't know guys but I think we should get the hell out of here.”
Jake also looked frightened. “Guys, maybe he has a point. If this thing takes off were all screwed.”
Johnny smiled. “Hey, we'd all be astronauts.”
Sam slowly shook his head. “Yeah, we'd be astronauts all right. It would probably take us back to its home planet. Ugly aliens might have us for lunch.”
They all stood up frightened.
The small pyramids sank into the ship like something heavy into quicksand and then they were out of sight.
Michael was grimacing in fear. “Those things could be fixing this thing right now!”
“All in favor of getting the hell out of here?” asked Sam.
Everyone's hand went up.
Sam wasn't sure if they were in danger or not but the saucer had never come to life like this before. “Let's not panic but hurry up and tie Randy to my back so we can get out of here and make sure you tie him good.”
They tied Randy to Sam's back but when Jake tried to leave he discovered that the saucer was now solid and ther
e was no way out. Instead of his head going through the wall he ended bumping his head on it and it hurt. Now in panic mode they all commenced to pound on the walls desperate to find a way out.
Michael hyperventilated and then fainted.
Randy started to cry.
Jake continued to pound and kick the walls.
Johnny sat and stared off, looking a bit like a zombie.
All Sam could do was to shake his head repeatedly. “Oh my god we're trapped in here! Maybe forever.”
Chapter Thirty
STELLA STOOD AKIMBO as she stared at John. “I cannot believe that you are still drinking!”
John shrugged. “I only took one little drink.”
Stella let herself fall into the recliner chair as she stared at John, almost as if her soul had left her. Her eyes cut through him like a thousand knives. It felt like all hope was lost but she had to remain calm. “Alcoholics can't drink John, not even one little drink. One drinks leads to twenty.”
“I'm sorry.”
Stella hated berating him but she was trying to save their marriage; she didn't want Randy to have to deal with that as well. “Don't be sorry just don't do it again. Where is it?”
“Inside the sofa.”
“John, give it to me.”
John stuck his hand inside the sofa and pulled out the bottle of rum, giving it to Stella; she went and poured it down the kitchen sink. He was disappointed in himself and now was worried at how good that rum had tasted. It wasn't a good feeling listening to the booze going down the drain.
Stella entered the living room and looked down at John. “Come on, we're gonna go see what Randy's doing.”
“He won't like it.”
“I don't care! I need to talk to him and see that he's okay.”
When they arrived at the tent Randy was nowhere to be seen but Harold, Timothy and Rolland were observed approaching from down the trail and they looked terrible. The three of them looked as though they had walked a hundred miles, having had fallen a hundred times. They were tired and hungry and dirty.
The Saucer Club Page 10
