by Lysa Daley
“We can’t just abandon her here,” I say, stepping up to Meegan’s ravaged body. “This gym is going to burn down in about two minutes.”
“Of course we’re not going to abandon her.” Fitz scoops Meegan up, throwing her over his shoulder like a ragdoll as we hurry away from the growing flames.
Stepping out of the smoky gym into the cool evening air, we practically get run over by a line of firetrucks rolling into the school’s parking lot.
“Might want to cover your face, Astrid,” Fitz suggests. “That’s the same engine company that put the fire out at your house. Don't want them to think you’re some sort of firebug.”
Lately, it does seem like my whole life is one big fire hazard.
As we move toward Fitz’s big pickup truck, the fire crew and paramedics rush past us. Fitz flashes his police badge as he hands Meegan over to a paramedic.
“What happened?” the paramedic asks.
Already looking more like her regular mean self, Meegan coughs and spits out water.
“Think the smoke got to her,” Fitz lies, ignoring the fact that she’s dripping wet. “Be good as new with a little oxygen.”
Chapter 3
As the exterior of the gym explodes in rolling flames, the three of us quickly follow Fitz around the corner of the building to a dimly lit parking lot where his big shiny steel gray pickup truck with smoky windows waits.
“My team is waiting for us,” he says. “But we don’t have much time left. We believe the handoff takes place at midnight.”
“It’s already nearly ten,” Ruby says, checking the time on her phone.
Approaching the four-door truck, I naturally go toward the front passenger door. Not because I think my rightful place is the much coveted front seat (shotgun!) but more out of force of habit. That’s where I sat on the way here, so I automatically move back in that direction.
However, Ruby, always one step ahead of everyone else, cuts me off and slips into the front seat before I can get there. This forces me to slow my pace and fall back in step next to Chad.
Ah ha! The little vixen is trying to ensure that I sit next to Chad Olson.
Oh sure, buildings might be burning to the ground, strange alien fungi could be hurtling balls of fire at us, and my uncle may be in grave danger, but Ruby still has time to think about my love life.
That’s why she’s truly my BFF.
I sneak a sideways glance at Chad, checking his reaction. Happily, he doesn’t seem to notice Ruby’s romantic scheming.
When everyone is safely inside the truck, Fitz pulls away, around the far side of the building, picking up speed as he goes.
“Okay wait…” Ruby chimes in. “You really truly are a cop?”
“Yes, I am,” Fitz nods. “At the moment, I am gainfully employed by the city of Ocean Grove’s police department. I’m proudly sworn to serve and protect the people of this community.”
“So police are involved in this crazy alien stuff?” Chad asks.
“Not exactly,” Fitz shakes his head. “I also happen to be a member of an organization called the Eye in the Sky. We're a group of concerned citizens, from all over the world, who are vigilantly keeping watch over our planet to keep it safe from hostile alien threats. We’re the only human group to work in close collaboration with the Pleiadian Alliance and the Council of Light.”
“And you guys have been, what, tracking Astrid?” Ruby asks.
He seems to consider his answer for a moment. “I prefer to think of it as being something of a guardian angel.”
Even though I heard this right after he picked me up outside the burger place, something finally clicks in my brain. “Wait a second. You were our guide. You helped us when my uncle and I first arrived on Earth.”
"Yes," Fitz nods, a wry smile edging up the corners of his mouth. “I was pretty sure you had forgotten all of that. You were just a wee little girl.”
All this time I thought Officer Fitzgerald seemed familiar because he reminded me of one of my friends' fathers. But I've met him before.
"In fact, I've been his contact since the day you landed on this planet. We’ve watched you from a distance and helped you relocate when we suspected that your location might have been compromised. I was the one who suggested that you and your uncle be brought to Ocean Grove.”
Then Fitz gets serious, turning toward Ruby and Chad. “As a peace officer, it is my duty to inform the two of you that you should go home where you’ll be safe. Nobody wants to put you or your family in any danger.”
Ruby swivels in the front seat and exchanges a confused look with Chad. “But… I thought you wanted our help?”
“Not if it puts you at risk.” Fitz continues, “This is not your battle.”
“Not our battle - yet,” Ruby replies darkly. “It sounds like it will be everyone on Earth’s battle if we don’t defeat the Draconians.”
“That day hasn’t yet come,” Fitz counters. “Just say the word, and I’ll take you both home right now.”
“Oh, I’m not leaving.” Ruby defiantly folds her arms across her chest.
“I’m not going anywhere either,” Chad adds.
“Except…” Ruby says, her voice less confident. “I’m not exactly sure what we’re helping with. Other than Flat Ridge Canyon.”
“Astrid’s uncle has been moved from the underground government facility where he was being held,” Fitz quickly recaps. “We have reason to believe that he will be handed over to the Draconians tonight to be transported off this planet to a star system best known for their boiling acid mines. Prisoners from all over the galaxy are used as slaves to mine the acid.”
“I didn’t know acid boils,” Chad says.
“Sulfuric acid boils at just over 600 degrees,” Fitz explains, letting the weight of that information sink in. “If we don’t stop their transport ship, her uncle will not live to see the end of this year.”
A heavy silence fills the car as the importance of our task becomes clear.
Fitz continues, “We have reason to believe that he will be moved to an unknown location out in Flat Ridge Canyon. However, we’re not exactly sure where in the canyon they could even land a massive transport ship. The terrain is very unstable. And their ships have anti-radar detection abilities. So we won’t be able to see it coming in.”
“I know that area like the back of my hand,” Chad volunteers.
Fitz pulls the truck onto the main road. “Do you think you could help us navigate the terrain?”
“Sure,” Chad nods, then gives me a little smile. “Anything you need.”
As the sleeping town of Ocean Grove whizzes past the smoky windows, I marvel at what a crazy few days it has been.
It all started a few days ago when a meteorite carrying bounty hunting aliens nearly destroyed my house. That’s basically when I learned my whole life, up to that point, had been one big fat lie.
Turns out I’m not just another red-blooded American sixteen-year-old high school student.
No, I’m more of an intergalactic fugitive hidden on this planet for safe keeping because, as it turns out, I might actually be the long-prophesied Pleiadian Princess destined to defeat an evil empire of reptilian aliens known as the Draconian Swarm. This evil swarm travels from solar system to solar system, draining each living planet of all their life and resources.
Kind of a lot to take in quickly.
Anyway, when I thought the mercenary shapeshifting bounty hunters, known as the Grail, had killed my uncle, I was forced to team up with our handyman Jax. Which, I know, sounds crazy, cause, like, who wants to team up with their handyman in a time of personal crisis? But as it turned out, Jax wasn’t such a bad choice, probably because he’s actually a highly trained former soldier and pilot from the Arcturian star system.
Wait, it gets better.
I also discovered that I am the proud owner of a powerful sword forged from the stardust of my home star system. This sword, known as BrightSky, can cloak itself as an ordinary ever
yday object until I need it. Umbrellas and walking sticks seem like the most useful at this point.
Anyway, after fighting the Grail, being captured by an evil group of government operatives who run a massive underground facility right in my current hometown of Ocean Grove, California, Jax helped me, my best girl Ruby and the one true love of my life Chad Olson escape in a stolen flying saucer.
I am so not kidding.
As we made our getaway in the flying saucer, we saw that my uncle wasn’t actually dead. No! He was being held prisoner by evil government dirtbags, that I call The Suits, preparing to send him to the boiling acid mines of a star system light years away.
Jax tried to convince me that the best plan was to take my sword to this all-seeing oracle -- who turns out to be Señora Mariposa, the lady who runs the Latin deli next to our karate studio.
Coincidence? I think not.
So, the wise oracle lady gives me this priceless key - that turns out to be a little seven-sided star like a charm from a bracelet - that opens a portal across space and time, known as the Stargate, so I can safely be transported back to my home planet. The charm also exactly matches the scar on my arm. Weird.
Except, at the last second, I decided not to go through the Stargate.
Instead, I bailed on handyman/flying saucer pilot Jax, determined instead to return to rescue my uncle. Which, to be honest, was pretty naive on my part. No way could I possibly do it all my myself.
But as it turns out, Officer Fitzgerald, the very friendly police officer, who saved my bacon twice in the last week, is actually part of a white hat group of humans determined to team up with the alliance of other planets and save Earth from the Draconian threat.
I know that’s a lot to swallow in one piece.
As I gaze out the window, Chad’s quiet voice asks, “Are you okay? I mean, really okay? I’ve been so worried about you since that Jax guy took you away.”
“I’m hanging in there,” I nod, looking into his perfect green-blue eyes.
“Good,” he smiles, then reaches over and takes my hand in his. “So about Meegan — ”
My stomach drops. I raise my other hand to stop him. “You don’t have to explain.”
“But… I want to,” he continues as a sadness creeps into his eyes.
Chapter 4
“No really,” I protest. “It’s okay. Ruby told me that you two already had plans for the spring formal and everything.”
“I tried to break it off, but she’d already bought her dress,” he replies, dropping his eyes. “So I couldn’t bail on her.”
“I understand.”
The truck is quiet. I just sit feeling the warmth of Chad’s hand in mine. With all the terrible things that have happened lately, I try to enjoy this small moment.
The drive takes a good twenty minutes as we head east out of the city slipping unnoticed into the dark winding canyon roads.
Just before we enter the National Forest, Fitz pulls into the parking lot of a low squat clapboard building that has a ten-foot long wooden fish on top of the roof along with a sign that reads “Heckel’s Greasy Spoon Cafe & Bait and Tackle Shop.”
“Heckles doesn’t usually stay open this late?” Chad frowns, gazing out the window as Fitz swings the truck into the last spot in the lot. “They’re usually closed up tight by 9:30.”
“Not for us,” Fitz says, getting out of the truck and striding along the side of the building. “We’re all set up in the back room.”
“You know this place?” Ruby asks Chad, sounding more stunned by the fact that any of her friends would actually eat at a hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon cafe, than the fact that she’s recently seen proof of alien life.
“Of course I have.” Chad pointedly looks at her like she’s nuts. “Best burger in the county. Not to mention, it’s the only place that can handle all your fishing needs.”
“Funny, I don’t have a lot of fishing needs,” Ruby shrugs.
“Me neither,” I say, getting out of the truck and taking BrightSky, currently a red umbrella, with me. “But I could really use a burger right about now. Even though I had one for lunch.”
“Too much red meat will kill you,” Ruby warns me.
“I’ll take my chances,” I say.
As we reach the side door, Fitz puts his hand on the handle then stops. “By the way, I can’t stress enough that you may not speak of the things you will see tonight.”
“Of course not,” I say for the group as we all nod.
“I’m serious. To anyone,” he firmly stresses. “The general public isn’t ready to know that aliens really do walk among us. And they’re certainly not ready to learn that we, as a planet, face a genuine threat in the form of the Draconian Swarm.”
Ruby pretends to lock her lips with an imaginary key. “Your secret is safe with us.”
Fitz pushes the door open revealing a large storeroom filled with a strange assortment of dry food goods and outdoor sporting gear. The stainless steel double doors to a big walk-in cooler take up an entire wall.
But in the center of the room sits a table, surrounded by three adults in black military fatigues and boots. They’re pouring over maps and charts and other official looking documents.
The weird thing is they seem to be inside a protective dome of purplish light like someone trapped them under a giant glass bowl.
We can see the trio talking to each other, but we can’t hear a thing.
“Whoa!” Chad says, as he and I cautiously approach the strange dome. A low static hum fills the air. “It’s like an energy field or something.”
“We call it ‘the cone of silence.’” Fitz explains. “It’s a photon shield. You can’t hear what they’re saying. Nor could anyone else who might be trying to listen in.”
“How do you get inside?” Ruby asks, looking sideways at the strange dome. “Or get out?”
“Right now the defenses aren’t activated.” Fitz just walks right through the dome like he’s stepping into a bubble. From inside, he waves to us.
Ruby winces. “Damn! I was expecting him to electrocute himself or something.”
“He said the defenses are down,” Chad repeats.
Fitz waves us in. Chad and I exchange looks.
Ruby takes a big step backward. “I am not stepping through some weird alien force field.”
“C’mon Ruby,” I say. “Fitz was fine.”
“No way,” she spits back.
“Okay, then.” Chad turns to me, holds out a hand and does a mock half bow. “After you, m’lady.”
I slip my hand into his. “Thank you, kind sir.”
Together, we step through the force field. The first contact feels like plunging into a cold swimming pool. But the cold sensation quickly fades into a warm glow.
On the inside, Chad reacts, “Wow! That was weird. And totally amazing at the same time.”
Inside the dome, I look back at Ruby, now alone outside of the cone of silence. I smile and try to wave her in.
She finally gives in, shakes her head in disgust, squeezes her eyes closed and rushes forward. Once inside, she brushes herself off like she has the heebie-jeebies. “Ick! That was so creepy.”
“So this is the princess,” A beautiful red-headed woman says kindly. “An honor to meet you.”
“I’m not a princess. I mean, not really,” I reply. “I know my uncle used to talk about how I came from the royal family of the lost Arctic people of Ivalo, and you guys say the seven sisters are princesses, but as far as I know, my father was a general, not royalty.”
“Actually,” Fitz corrects me. “Agent Simmons is right. It was your mother who was the general. Your father was the equivalent of a grand duke or a crown prince. It is his royal sword that you currently possess. And the lost Arctic people of Ivalo on Earth were descendants of the Lyrians.”
My mom was a military general? I look down at BrightSky, still in the form of an umbrella, in my hand. Bad on me. Guess I assumed the general in my family was my dad. Talk about
sexist.
“Which means you really are a princess!” Ruby smiles, doing that weird excited clapping like a hummingbird thing. “That’s so amazing, your highness.”
A tall Asian man adds, “You have to forgive us for all gawking at you, Astrid. It’s just that we’ve heard about you for years. It’s a real honor for those of us who have dedicated ourselves to the Eye in the Sky organization to finally get to see you in person. My name is Hiro Tanaka. I’m the science and tech coordinator.”
The red head, and only woman in the group, steps up. Despite her delicate features and long curly red hair, she has the air of a kickass career military officer. “My name is Marissa Simmons. I handle weapons and tactical coordination.”
The silent bald giant leaning on the table on the edge of the bubble steps forward. “O’Malley. Head of security.”
The big guy’s clearly a man of few words.
I nod and reply in my polite voice, “Nice to meet you all.”
Fitz has had enough of the polite introductions. “Okay, now that you’ve met my crack crew, let’s get to work. Where are we on pinpointing the location of the exchange?”
“Our latest intel says we’re looking for a place —” Simmons reads from a piece of paper. “— where the clouds hang low and airplanes fear to tread.”
“That’s Putnam Pointe.” Chad immediately recognizes the name.
“And how exactly do you know that?” O’Malley asks Chad, sounding skeptical and generally annoyed to have us three in his photon dome.
“I grew up about ten minutes from here. My dad is a park ranger,” Chad explains. “If you’re looking for a place where airplanes fear to tread out in Flat Ridge Canyon then it must be Putnam Pointe. And it’s not just that they fear to tread. It’s illegal. I’m pretty sure the whole area is a no-fly zone.”
“Putnam Pointe?” Ruby also grew up in Ocean Grove. “Isn’t that area supposed to be contaminated or something.”
Chad nods solemnly. “The whole area is at the base of the deepest canyon. It’s all fenced off, and there are radioactive warning signs everywhere.”
