by Korey Troyer
The bubble skimmed across the surface of the moon. They flew by some well-known landmarks including NASA’s first landing site. Tyler pointed out the American flag and landing craft then asked about the stuff left behind.
Ethan explained how the astronauts only had adequate fuel to bring the equipment to the moon but not enough to get it back.
“I’m amazed how humans made the journey to the moon with such primitive technology. Your toy phone uses more computing power than NASA’s first space ship. Earthlings are gutsy and courageous explorers. Earth will be welcomed into the universe of civilized planets when you are ready, but you still need to make a few more discoveries first.”
Ethan paused and said in a grown up tone with a goofy smile, “And you guys really have to stop fighting each other.”
They rounded the moon to the dark side to find nothing but, well, darkness. He turned to catch the solar glow outlining the moon. When in the shadow, all light absorbed into nothingness. Tyler wasn't totally afraid of the dark, but this scene made him uneasy.
A thought struck him and he remembered he'd packed his night goggles. Not real night vision goggles but rather large glasses with green headlights on them. The bright headlights helped Tyler find the bathroom in the middle of the night. Tyler slipped off his backpack and began foraging through it, armpit deep in his search. He found the goggles, sliding them on in one smooth motion. Running his fingers blindly across the top of the goggles, he flipped the on the headlights on either side of the lenses.
As he turned, Ethan’s face lit in a green hue. He found his orange friend staring back at him with a confused stare.
“What? So, I brought my night goggles.”
Ethan tittered. “You’re prepared for anything, aren’t you? I bet everything you’ll need for this mission is in your backpack.”
The young travelers spun around to face forward. They seemed to be on an intercept course with a small speck of light. As they approached, the speck got bigger. Ethan and Tyler found themselves nose to nose with a giant Swedish meatball. The meatball slid back a pair of eyelids to reveal a big shiny blue eyeball.
A voice in the bubble spoke in a monotonous British drone. “Your authorization code please.”
Ethan began reciting his pass phrase, Wiki wiki boo ya bang bang booooooup! Wonka wonka do wa diddy, and ended with a deep gurgling burp. Had Tyler not been startled by Ethan’s outburst, he would be busting a gut with laughter. After all, that was pretty silly.
The big blue eyeball blinked as a flashing red light floated around the back side of the meatball and attached itself to the top of Ethan’s bubble.
“Thank you for parking at Galactico’s Dark Side of the Moon Station," said the voice from the eyeball. "We hope you had a pleasant experience on Earth, and please think of us next time you visit Earth or any of the surrounding planetary bodies. Please proceed to your ship…and remember to buckle up.”
The sudden voice change made the boys chuckle.
Tyler shot glances all around but saw no parked space ships.
Where could they be? he thought. Then, the glowing outline of a giant square appeared in front of them. The glow grew from bottom up like a garage door opening on a lightless evening. They floated through the roll up door into a colossal space ship parking garage.
The well-lit interior caused Tyler to ditch his goggles back into his backpack. Hundreds, maybe thousands of space crafts lined up in perfect rows, stacked like pallets at Costco. The boys flew along a path as if on a rail. The red light on top kept blinking almost hypnotically as they passed ship after ship. So many different styles; flying saucers, cigar shaped vessels, square ones, round ones, trapezoid ones, pointy ones and more.
Ethan noticed Tyler trying to process everything. “The parking garage is cloaked, which is why you couldn’t see it until the garage door appeared.”
“So these space ships are for aliens visiting Earth?” Tyler asked. “How can so many be here without everybody knowing? My Dad watches a show called UFO Hunters where people claim they met space aliens. He says those people are goofy but maybe...”
“Tyler your Dad is kind of right,” Ethan explained, giggling. “The people claiming alien encounters have not. Visitors never interact with humans unless they are shopping or having dinner in a restaurant. We are good at disguises, as you know from our first meeting. If we don’t want to be seen, we are not seen.”
Tyler shook his head as he gazed at the endless rows of ships they passed.
“Ah, but what about all the UFO crashes?” Tyler asked. “If aliens are so good at hiding and stuff like that, how come they crash?”
“Oh, those aren’t crashed space ships,” Ethan replied with a laugh.
“Huh?”
“It’s garbage or rubbish or waste...however you want to put it. Some species find it amusing to taunt less developed planets by ejecting their trash before departing. Their trashcans are equipped with guidance systems to avoid populated areas. Most of the time they try to dump near military bases to be sure the mess is cleaned up right away.”
Tyler laughed.
“No…really! If the Men in Black knew they are saving trash and studying things that are no more important than a discarded candy bar wrapper, they’d be pretty upset. You could say Area 51 is an interstellar waste processing plant. Those guys are excellent janitors. Actually,” Ethan continued, “Earth is an extremely popular destination. Many of the UFO sightings on Earth are families on holiday who forget to cloak their ship. Total amateurs…” Ethan said under his breath, shaking his head. “Tourists always muck it up for the rest of us.”
“I know what you mean,” Tyler said. “We live in Orlando, Florida. My Dad says every time he flies for business, he runs into tourists at the airport.”
“Funny you say that, Tyler, because airports are Earth’s biggest tourist attraction.”
Tyler crunched his eyebrows.
“It’s true. To interstellar travelers, Earth’s airports are like zoos. Visitors stake out food courts, pubs and gates. They sit and soak in the Earthlings scurrying about. These are interesting places to hang out because airports attract such a wide variety of humans.”
“Do you go anywhere else besides airports?” asked Tyler.
“Absolutely! I really like the Grand Canyon but my dad likes Brazil. My mom loves Thailand. She enjoys the warm climate and adores the food, especially something called curry.”
“Curry? Sounds nasty,” chuckled Tyler.
He cocked his head to the side and exclaimed, “A lot of beings go to Earth to learn your cultures and civilizations. Most are scientists and students. These visitors study humans in their natural habitat such as work, malls and bowling alleys. I know of one group who have been in Ft Wayne, Indiana for decades...strange people there...fascinating stuff.”
“There it is!” shouted Ethan as he pointed at a very cool looking spacecraft. The vessel had a metallic skin as shiny as a giant mirror. The almond shaped craft flowed to a point on either end. The ship stretched as long as a football field and nearly as wide in the middle.
Tyler expected they would float through walls as they'd slid out of the roof of his house earlier. Instead, a door opened in the bottom of the craft and they popped into a hangar.
The bubble gently set down in the center of a large brightly lit room. Ethan waved his hand from left to right and the bubble began to unzip. The boys stepped out one at a time as the bubble swirled and disappeared.
“I can give you a tour of the ship once we’re on our way,” Ethan said, turning to Tyler, “but we should be going. Please follow me.”
Ethan pivoted on his heel and headed for what seemed to be a door. Tyler grabbed the straps of his backpack and followed closely as he craned his neck aroun
d to take in everything.
This is amazing, Tyler thought as they walked.
