by JournalStone
“No.” Bev grabbed for the door handle but Kit pushed her down to the floor, held her there with his feet.
She didn’t need to see this but he couldn’t look away.
The alien reached up one skeletal arm and pulled the garage door down, cutting off the sight of the adults’ shocked faces and thrusting the garage into semi-darkness.
Outside, shouts and banging sounded but the alien ignored them. From further away, police sirens howled to life.
Kit’s blood turned colder than Miller’s stream in November, as the alien stared at the computer keyboard and at the image of the trees on the monitor.
The air in the Jeep was stifling, sweat rolled down Kit’s face, the tickle demanding immediate attention, but he steeled himself against any movement. He did remember to lift his feet and let Bev slide back up, onto the seat.
She clutched his hand as the intruder started tapping a long nail on the keys.
“That’s more than just basic intelligence at work. It has knowledge of technology.” Bev’s whisper floated in the still air, barely audible.
How would I feel if something yanked me from my home to another world? Scared? Angry? For all we know, this thing was with its family, enjoying a nice walk in the park, when we stole it from everything it ever knew.
All I’d want to do, is go home.
It only took the creature a few minutes to figure out the keyboard controls. It wasted no time zooming in on another of its kind.
Instead of hitting the Enter key, the alien moved the two antennae to the floor and spaced them as far apart as their wires would allow, almost ten feet.
Then it held down Control-Alt-Delete.
The familiar yellow glow formed but it didn’t stop when it reached softball size. By the time it was eight feet in diameter, the harsh tang of heated metal had filled the car almost to the choking point.
This time the Pop was more like a rifle report in the closed space of the garage.
From out of the black disk stepped another alien.
And another.
The disk didn’t disappear, not even when the tenth one came out.
Or the twentieth.
Kit joined Bev on the floor of the Jeep when the invaders opened the garage door and the screaming started. He pressed his hands over his ears and leaned against Bev’s shivering body.
Shadows continued to move past the truck’s tinted windows as more and more aliens made their way through the gate and out into the world.
Kit wondered how long they had left before the transformer finally used up its ninety minutes of life.
Or before something looked into the Jeep.
THE END
Mack and Stretch
Save the Earth
(Young Adult)
By
David Perlmutter
Prospero was ready.
This unknown and unknowable planet from the quadrants beyond the system of Sol had been preparing to conquer what it considered to be the most life giving—and therefore the most obstinate—planet known to exist anywhere: the planet Earth. Conquering this planet would allow Prospero to seize all the available resources located there and take the people who had not died in its invasion into slavery.
This was something the envious world desperately needed. Its own resources were severely tapped and its own people on the cusp of revolution against the ruling classes. The army of Prospero, powered by a higher form of technology indistinguishable from magic, set off to conquer Earth, the only planet in its—or any nearby galaxy capable of sustaining life.
In spite of its preparations however, Prospero was to be surprised at the final results of its attack on Earth. For it seemed others were also practicing the art of magic on Earth, in spite of initial suspicions that that more ancient form of the art had died out hundreds of years ago.
And that was to be their undoing….
II.
Commander Hamlet, the leader of the expeditionary force designed to attack Earth, while examining the object of his imminent invasion through a magic device known simply as a Futuroscope, was interrupted by his adjutant Captain MacBeth with some pressing news that required his attention.
“I have the reports of the investigation into the presence of magic on the planet Earth, Sire,” Captain MacBeth said, saluting.
“Very well,” answered Hamlet. “What are the results?”
“There is very little presence of magic on the planet Earth at this moment,” MacBeth responded. “We have, it seems, chosen the right moment in order to take over the planet. They have allowed science to conquer magic fairly easily, judging by the degree to which they allow science to control their industry and defense. Our magic is vastly superior to any level of science which they possess so our conquest seems evident.”
“Seems?” Hamlet was suspicious regarding this last word. “Why this hesitation MacBeth?”
“Because, sir, there are two formidable practitioners of the white magic who live there, who can counter and defeat our black magic. Specifically, in the community of Grand Forks, North Dakota, in the United States of America, on the continent of….”
“Spare me the nomenclature man!” demanded Hamlet. “Who are these two fools who might pose a threat to us?”
“Their names, sir, are McKenna Mendelson and Melissa Cunningham, known to their close acquaintances as Mack and Stretch.”
“Have you photographic evidence of their existence? If so, then produce it!”
MacBeth produced such a photograph. Upon seeing it, Hamlet roared with laughter.
In the photograph were two seemingly ordinary thirteen-year-old human girls. The first, McKenna, was short and chunky, with red hair cut with bangs, making a grotesque funny face by putting fingers at either side of her mouth; the other, Stretch, had blonde hair cut in a flat bob and was extremely tall and powerful in appearance. She was cradling a strong arm around her friend as she laughed at her antics.
Hamlet continued laughing for a few minutes before finally recovering. When he did, MacBeth approached him again.
“What do you consider so amusing, Sire?” he asked.
“You fool!” Hamlet chuckled. “Am I supposed to consider those two the only possible obstacle we have to conquering their worthless planet?”
“But Sire, I speak the truth,” MacBeth protested. “Our records indicate they have performed countless secret acts of sorcery, to save themselves and their community since they became accredited sorcerers three Earth years ago. And they are not only magically gifted, they have physical and mental prowess unmatched among their peers. Ms. McKenna is said to possess the intelligence and cunning of a fox, while Ms. Stretch is said to possess the speed and strength of a dozen men….”
“Posh!” Hamlet cancelled MacBeth’s concern. “Mere speculations! No human being matches our physical prowess; in spite of us all being short-bodied grey creatures with only one red eye in the center of our heads. Besides, no human being can possibly break the Prosperous chains, which we use to imprison our slaves. Go to this Grand Forks and capture them! Once there, we will liquidate them and our invasion can proceed! I want them captured and dead within ninety minutes! Do you hear me? NINETY MINUTES! Now go!”
MacBeth could do nothing except leave the room, while watching with some trepidation as his leader continued to laugh.
“The very idea!” he bellowed with glee. “Prospero conquered by Earthling teenagers! How naïve can you GET?”
III.
Hamlet’s orders were carried out, as they always were. And so, the Earth had no idea what was going to hit it—until it was too late…
Meanwhile, our heroines, Mack and Stretch, were cheerfully giggling as they walked home from an invigorating workout session on the campus of the University of North Dakota. Dressed in matching blue track-suits and white sneakers and carrying heavy bags of gear along their shoulders, they might have been mistaken for sisters. For all intent and purpose, that was the case. Both being children of single parents w
hose jobs required considerable absence from home, Mack and Stretch had long leaned on one another for support. The taller and stronger girl protected her younger associate from attacks by bullies. The shorter and smarter one protected her friend from those who insulted Stretch’s intelligence (which was far greater than her muscle-bound appearance might suggest). They had grown up sharing the same interests, which included both fitness and witchcraft and had become experts in both fields. This paid off in more than one respect.
Stretch was a phenomenal athlete, specializing in basketball, cross country running and field hockey. While Mack did not equal her in physical stature, she more than made up for it in enthusiasm and support for her friend at all times. Mack, in turn, was more than eager to help Stretch through her occasional scholastic emergencies, being as Mack was a regular resident of the Honor Roll. Yet Mack was still envious of Stretch in a way, since scholars rarely get the kind of attention or money given to athletes. But, for the sake of their friendship, she was willing to keep any resentments of that kind to herself.
In any event, Mack and Stretch were almost halfway home when Mack—heavily tired out by lugging her gear bag—stopped to rest on a nearby fire hydrant.
“Gee Mack,” Stretch said. “We’re not home yet!”
“I know that Stretch,” replied Mack. “But, as you well know, I don’t possess the kind of Herculean power you have!”
“Herculean?” Stretch asked. (She did possess physical power akin to that of the Greek hero, demonstrated by the fact that she could tote her heavy athletic gear bag around on her shoulder as if it were merely a purse.)
“Yeah. Like Hercules! Remember the Greek mythology unit we did in history?”
“Uh huh. But give me a break Mack! It’s June, for crying out loud! Am I supposed to remember this stuff all the time?”
School being out for the summer, the dynamic duo were now free to concentrate—if only temporarily—on their two avocations. Stretch would have wanted to spend every day working out on the UND campus, as she was very much a health nut, concerned about maintaining her mighty musculature as much as possible. The very idea of becoming remotely fat or weak appalled her. Mack however, had different ideas. It was her interest in scholarly affairs that got them involved in witchcraft after all and her subsequent mighty prowess at that activity got them registered as members of the WWW (Witches, Wizards and Warlocks) of Grand Forks. Consequently, Mack was as avid about maintaining this end of her interests. She would have done so even more regularly, if Stretch had not persuaded her to join in her workouts for company. Stretch, for her part, felt she was only sub-par as a witch and felt the same envy for Mack’s ability at the art that Mack felt for the size of Stretch’s biceps and deltoids.
“Not all the time!” Mack said, as she started to get her breath back and leaned towards her friend. “But you gotta know something more than shoving a ball in a basket, if you’re going to make it in life Stretch!”
“Don’t I know it!” the taller girl replied. “But sometimes I think you rub that point in my face too hard Mack! Not everyone is born a genius like you!”
“Nor, for that matter, is everyone born an athlete my friend!” responded Mack. “You saw that personally today when I totally embarrassed myself doing your thing!”
“Don’t be silly Mack! It’s not like I meant to throw that basketball in your face—or you would fall down and trip on that gopher hole when we ran. Or even when we tried to lift weights….”
“Don’t rub that in Ms. Showoff! You were practically balancing the heaviest weight on your finger and I could barely lift the lightest one!”
“There you go again, comparing me to…what’s-his-name…”
“Hercules!”
“Right. But I’m not that strong Mack!”
“Oh, yeah? Well how come your dad always makes you move the furniture around…?”
“Because his back always goes out when he tries to do it! Besides, even though you’re pretty smart, you aren’t exactly Einstein either!”
“Are you insulting me?” Mack returned, enraged.
“No!” said Stretch. “This is an insult!”
She took her bag off her shoulder and dropped it on Mack’s foot, who squealed in pain and threatened to throw a punch at her friend. But Stretch’s mighty arm blocked Mack’s feint easily. Suddenly they stopped, embraced, and laughed like the friends they truly were. That was how things worked out with them; even the best of friends fight once in a while, but they know how to make up in style too.
And then, the aliens arrived….
* * *
The arrival was unpleasant, as the Prosperian scout ship blocked the sun as soon as it entered Earth’s atmosphere. And, as it was a clear, sunny day, it was something the two girls noticed immediately.
“Did it get cold all of a sudden?” Mack asked.
“Fraid so!” said Stretch. “And look what caused it!”
It was an enormous Frisbee-shaped disk, the kind of ship that caused alien vessels to be erroneously referred to as flying saucers by the media, many years ago. What was worse, it now descended abruptly down from the skies as soon as Mack and Stretch were spotted!
“Take cover!” Stretch ordered. Quickly the two of them stacked their athletic bags on top of one another in a crude attempt to make a fort, and hid behind them and the fire hydrant, as best they could. But it was hardly enough to fool the aliens.
When it landed across the street from where Mack and Stretch were hiding, the alien scouts emerged from the ship decked out in as much armored plated protection as they could manage. They found the crude hiding place, tore away the bags and unpleasantly hoisted Mack and Stretch to their feet.
“What the hell….” Mack protested. “What do you one-eyed, square-bodied idiots want with us?”
“We want you out of the way!” said the commander of the scout ship. “We were ordered to remove you from the face of existence and that is what we intend to do!”
“But why?” demanded Stretch.
“You two, Ms. Mendelson and Ms. Cunningham, are the only known practitioners of white magic on this planet! You are the only beings capable of destroying and defeating the forces of Prospero in battle with these abilities. Therefore, you must be eliminated!”
“Not on your life buddy!” growled Mack.
Together, at a nod from one another, each brought a foot down on the alien holding them prisoner, causing that captor to shout in pain and drop them to the ground. Using all their speed, the human duo ran off in the opposite direction from whence they had come, with the alien pursuers hot on their trail, laser blasters drawn and shooting.
“What do we do Mack?” Stretch gasped.
“We are doing it silly!” panted Mack. “We’re running away. And the way we do it, they’ll be tired out before long. So just keep going!”
But being able to keep going was something that was soon out of the question. They found their path blocked by a dead end street—and a wall!
“Damn!” cursed Mack. “Of all the….why did they have to build something like that here? And now?”
“Never mind. We still have options.”
“Such as what?” asked Mack.
“We can FIGHT them!”
“You out of your mind Stretch? They’re aliens….”
“But that doesn’t mean they’re tougher than us Mack! Nobody in this neighborhood is tougher than you and me.”
“Yeah,” Mack agreed. “Especially after the workout we just had today. Besides, I’ve been meaning to try out some of those karate moves I’ve been learning.”
“Me too,” Stretch agreed. “Don’t forget we do that together.”
“Yeah,” replied Mack. “Like everything else we do!”
At that moment they were cornered by the alien forces but before the commander could raise his blaster to stun the duo—or any of the others could, either—Stretch’s long leg came out, hit the commander’s wrist, and kicked the blaster into a nearby clump of gr
ass. While Mack didn’t have her partner’s length, she was able to connect with a couple of the others’ bodies to make them do the same.
“Stupid females!” the commander cursed. “Do you not know who you are dealing with here?”
“No!” countered Mack. “And apparently you don’t either! Let’s get ‘em, Stretch!”
“Right behind you buddy,” responded the taller girl.
The next few minutes passed in a blur as the two Earth girls boxed, wrestled and karate kicked their way through the battle lines. Red wounds soon decorated the alien’s bodies, as Mack and Stretch were their equals in size and strength, if not even their superiors. Of the nine aliens comprising the unit, only the commander ended up unscathed. Mack rushed in to a swarm of three of them, wrestling one into submission. She knocked another out with a stone-cold knockout punch and broke the third one’s back with a kick directed firmly at his spinal column. Yet these achievements on her part were dwarfed by what Stretch was able to do to the others.
Given that, at six-foot-five, she was already considerably taller than the tallest Prosperian. She had that significant advantage but her great strength and keen athletic mind were two more attributes most of the alien race did not possess. She was able to stop the first, simply by throwing her mighty fist in his face, which caused him to fall down dead. Two others grabbed her arms to check her but she grabbed both of them by their wrists and threw them far away. The remaining alien was more successful in fighting her. He grabbed a stick, modified from a tree branch and knocked her to the ground when she was not looking. Though humbled by this, she was not wounded and proved this by grabbing him from behind and punching a hole directly through his stomach.
Finally, the commander, who had been knocked out earlier, ended the fracas by firing a beam of hot light directly at Stretch’s back, which rendered her unconscious. Hearing Stretch’s shriek of pain, Mack went to investigate and she too was incapacitated by a similar beam. The captain took their limp bodies and loaded Mack and Stretch back onto the ship for presentation to Commander Hamlet.
