Game On: Alien Space Adventure

by R. E. Rowe

  “Yeah, and get parents suing them!” Parker took a deep breath and stood straighter.

  Jayden went silent for a moment. It’d be a risky PR strategy for Worldcom Corp, he thought, and wondered if any company would do such a thing. They had to realize they’d get sued.

  “Do you think Nora is in their weird helicopter?” Parker asked, his eyes bulging. “We need to get her back, Jayden!”

  Rox barked from outside Jayden’s bedroom door.

  “Parker, keep your voice down. You’re getting Rox all riled up,” Jayden said, and then glanced at the paper again.

  “Rox? Seriously?” Parker bit his lip. “We have to do something quick.”

  “We?” Jayden asked. “Rosa will talk to them when they show up. I’ll deny everything.”

  “What are you saying?” Parker asked, his eyes full of tears. “Jayden?”

  A long, awkward moment passed. Jayden inspected the paper again. That’s when he smelled jasmine. His stomach sank. Parker was his best friend. He knew he needed to do something. But it wasn’t because of Nora’s stupid perfume. It was the expression on his best friend’s face. It had shocked him to the core. Parker was in big trouble thanks to the stupid tablet.

  Jayden felt a pang of guilt. He never should’ve used his dad’s one-of-a-kind, tricked-out tablet to get a game advantage. He lowered his voice. “Did they take the tablet?”

  Parker nodded.

  Jayden felt his stomach spin, and bile lodged in his throat. “Okay, okay. Let’s figure this out. We have rights, you know? They can’t just invade your house without a warrant and haul people away. If it is some crazy marketing scheme for a new game, our parents will call the real cops, right?”

  Parker wiped his nose, looked around for tissue, but couldn’t find one. He wiped his hand on his pants. “So what do we do, Killgeek? What’s the plan?”

  Jayden sighed. It was clear to him they weren’t playing an online game. The stakes were much too high.

  But Jayden wasn’t about to let World Com keep his dad’s tablet or mess with his best friend’s sister. “We go find Nora.”

  Parker’s eyes instantly lit up and shined brighter. He wiped his nose again. “You’d do that for me?”

  “They’ll be sorry they messed with our clan.” Jayden opened and closed his fists. “Jerks.”

  “Thanks,” Parker said, trembling as he gave Jayden a hug.

  Jayden shoved him. “Get it together, dude. Tell me what they told you about your parents again?”

  “The guy said my mom and dad would be home tonight if they cooperated,” Parker replied.

  “Good,” Jayden said. “So Nora is the only one being sent away?”

  He nodded. “That’s what the guy told us. How are we gonna get her back?”

  Jayden held up one hand. He thought of the prompt on Nora’s computer screen. “Remember the info after the GPS coordinates? It read, ‘Recruit Pickup. Next Five.’”

  “Yeah.” Parker frowned. “So?”

  Jayden shot him a grin then continued. “What if it meant the pickups would continue for the next five nights or five mornings? You know what I mean? Five more pickups of kids at four a.m., just like the last one.”

  “You mean we go back to Santa Cruz Observatory and try to get on their flying machine?” Parker asked, incredulously.

  “Exactly.” Jayden nodded. “Got any better ideas?”

  Parker put his hands on his hips. “Are you insane?”

  “Probably,” Jayden replied. “But look, we don’t have a clue where they took her. It will at least get us to the place where they’re taking kids. I bet that’s where we’ll find her.”

  “What about your dad?” Parker asked. “Do you think he’d help?”

  Jayden eyed him, then said, “How? Make a call and have the guys in black masks pick him up too?

  Besides, he’s traveling with my mom.” He paused, thinking hard. “Nope, let’s sneak into their crazy flying machine. I bet it’s just some rocket engine stealth helicopter. Besides, no way they’ll be expecting two stowaways trying to rescue a girl they kidnapped.”

  Parker rubbed his eyes. “Maybe.”

  “Like your sister said, remember? If we own it, people will buy it. They’ll never suspect a thing. If we get lucky, they’ll take us where they took her.”

  Jayden had no clue what they’d do after that, but he’d come up with a plan later. It was time to change the rules to whatever game World Com was playing.

  “Are we going to bike up to the observatory?” Parker asked.

  “No. We’d be more legit if we took the bus with everyone else.” Jayden flipped through the documents in the flimsy black cover again, browsing the pages of street addresses, cross streets, dates, and times. “I bet these are bus stops and pickup times. It looks like there’s a stop at Vasona Park on University Avenue in an hour.

  That’s not far from here.”

  Jayden remembered the permission forms in the back of the flimsy document and pulled out two. “Grab the pen on my desk. Let’s write in our information and scribble our parents’ signatures.”

  They quickly filled out the forms and tucked them away in their back pockets.

  Jayden never thought to change out of the hoody and jeans he had worn from the day before. “Let’s go,” he said, as he ran his fingers through his hair, grabbed his backpack, and stuffed the flimsy document into it. “It’s payback time.”

  Chapter 7

  Jayden and Parker carefully navigated side streets lined with tall trees and overgrown bushes until they reached the pick-up bus stop on the outskirts of Vasona Park. They sat down on the cold concrete bench and waited.

  Before long, a muddy, plain green bus identical to the one they saw at the Santa Cruz Observatory cruised by them without stopping.

  Jayden grumbled under his breath. There goes the plan, he thought.

  Just as he was about to admit defeat, a second bus hit its brakes and coasted to a stop alongside the bench.

  This bus was larger than a yellow school bus but smaller than a city bus. In fact, Jayden realized it was the same exact bus from the observatory.

  The driver opened the door.

  Jayden glanced at Parker out of the corner of his eye. The same driver, he thought.

  Apparently, Parker noticed the driver too. He gave Jayden a nod.

  “You two here for the SECC pick up?” the older kid asked from the driver’s seat. He took off his cap and scratched his shaved head.

  They both nodded.

  “Strange.” The driver grabbed a clipboard and flipped a page. “I don’t show any pick-ups scheduled for this stop until later.” He tossed the clipboard on his dashboard. “Good thing I noticed you on my route . . .

  Password?”

  Jayden felt his stomach sink. It was a terrible time to draw a blank.

  Parker pushed Jayden aside. “Dione,” he blurted out.

  The driver smirked. “Good. Get in.”

  Parker climbed up the metal steps with Jayden on his heels.

  The driver held out his hand. “Signed approval forms.”

  Parker reached into his back pocket, pulled out his form, and handed it to the guy. He elbowed Jayden.

  Jayden was happy to see the determination in Parker's eyes, instead of the uncertainty that had filled them only moments before. He straightened and retrieved the form from his back pocket, then handed it to the kid.

  The driver’s eyes narrowed as he studied the pages. “Parker Jameson and Jayden Banks.” After a long pause, the driver relaxed his shoulders. “First two of the day.” He pointed to the back of the bus. “You guys sit in the last row. We fill up from back to front. Box dinners and bottled water are on the seats. Bathroom is in the far back. Get comfortable. I’ll be making pickups for the next ten hours.”

  Jayden swallowed hard. Ten hours?

  “Thanks,” Parker said before Jayden could object. The driver shut the door and put the bus into gear as they staggered down the aisle to sea
ts in the rear.

  Parker picked up the boxed dinners and handed one to Jayden as they both settled in for the long ride.

  Inside the box wasn’t much of a dinner in Jayden's opinion. Just a single ham slice between two stale pieces of white bread with a mustard packet, a bag of mostly air and a couple potato chips, and a dill pickle. He gulped down the water and finished off the sandwich in three bites.

  “He has got be kidding with the ten hours stuff,” Parker whispered.

  “The dude must have just learned how to drive,” Jayden said.

  It soon became apparent to Jayden that the driver wasn’t exaggerating. The bus slowly drove around town picking up kids one or two at a time, sometimes in groups of three. He watched as each new arrival walked down the aisle as if the floor had been covered in tacks.

  “Take the first available seat in the back,” the bus driver repeated each time he picked up a new kid.

  Most everyone was about Jayden’s age, but some older kids got on the bus too. Jayden thought they all looked like kids that went to Brooke Middle School or Zillow Oak High, except for one older kid with long, black, greasy hair and puffy, close-set eyes.

  The greasy-haired kid seemed like a typical tough guy who’d been held back a couple years. He wore a black leather jacket to match his attitude. Jayden avoided eye contact.

  No one in the bus said a word as they drove around the Valley. A couple of kids seemed to know each other, but most didn’t.

  During one stop about an hour into the trip, Jayden noticed a girl with a pixie haircut get on the bus. She was cute, but not like Nora. Her vacant watery eyes summed up the overall mood inside the bus.

  The bus slowed to a crawl in bumper-to-bumper Bay Area traffic, and Parker’s head lolled onto Jayden’s shoulder. After a couple hours picking up more kids, Jayden grew drowsy too. The chaos of the past couple days had caught up with him fast and furious. Before long, he was dreaming again that he was sitting on a surfboard, floating on crystal blue water near a white beach. He felt a warm breeze as he desperately searched the beach for Nora. But the beach was empty.

  Nora was lost, he thought, and worse, so was the tablet.

  Chapter 8

  The day had ended and the pitch-black night had taken charge. The bus was chilly when Jayden awoke.

  “How long?” Jayden asked Parker, fighting off a yawn.

  “You’ve been sleeping for hours. We drove all over the Valley . . . twice,” Parker said.

  Jayden stared at him. He couldn't imagine how he’d feel if guys with guns took away his family. His friend’s eyes were bloodshot.

  “You didn’t miss anything, just insane traffic. The pick-ups took forever. It’s a good thing there’s a toilet in the back.” Parker rolled his neck back and forth trying to crack it. “Anyway, we’re almost to the parking lot.”

  “You mean—?”

  “Yep.” Parker nodded, pointing out the window. Santa Cruz Observatory glowed from the top of a mountain a few miles away.

  As the bus groaned up the steep hill and around sharp curves to the familiar observatory parking lot, Jayden rushed to take his turn in the bathroom. It was seriously bad timing. Just as he returned to his seat, the bus arrived at its destination and stopped near a group of a dozen teenage kids standing next to another bus.

  “Everyone out!” the driver shouted. “Wait with the others.” He pointed to the group in the parking lot.

  “Over there. Don’t wander around, or you’ll end up flat as a pancake. I’m seriously not joking.” The guy grabbed a newspaper from under his seat and opened it. “Move it!” he added, as he glanced up into the mirror above the windshield.

  Jayden thought about asking the driver a question or two, but decided against it as they followed the others off the bus. He’d have to wait until they were aboard the crazy looking helicopter to formulate a plan. He noticed that the mix of middle- and high-school kids came from just about every clique imaginable: there were the jocks, some geeks, a few cheerleaders, and a couple tough guys. And, of course, there were the ones who didn’t seem to fit into any group at all like the pixie-haired girl.

  Jayden glanced around again, questioning their crazy idea until Parker turned to him and gave a small fist pump. No turning back now. He’d always covered Parker’s back, and vice versa. They were clan mates. This situation was no different. Their mission was clear: Find Nora. Find the tablet. Make it back home in one piece.

  Parker took in a loud breath, wiped his face, and threw back his shoulders. “Let’s mingle. Follow me.” He strode right into the middle of the gathered teens with Jayden on his heels.

  “Hey,” Jayden said, nodding to the greasy-haired, leather-jacket kid from the bus.

  “Colder than hell tonight,” the kid replied.

  Jayden noticed a silver chain dangled from a pocket of the teen’s jacket. His jeans had a sort of dirty, haven’t washed them look, rather than a trendy designer look. The guy's small head and close-set eyes didn’t match his broad shouldered, six-foot-tall frame. He looked a little on the goofy side to Jayden, but the kid could probably kick his butt.

  “Well, actually,” Parker said, “most people think hell is hot—”

  Jayden kicked Parker in the shin and cleared his throat. “Totally agree, dude. The name is Jayden. He’s Parker. Truth man. It’s colder than hell.”

  “People call me Creep,” he said in a deep, raspy voice. His eyes shifted around as if he were watching for the police. “You got a smoke?”

  They looked at each other and shook their heads. “Sorry,” said Jayden.

  “Man. I’m in serious need. You feel me?” He flexed one bicep and pointed at it. “The patch is wearing off.

  My guns need more ammo.”

  Parker smirked and was about to make a comment, but Jayden grabbed his arm. “So, dude. Your name is really, um, Creep?” Jayden asked.

  Creep glared, and his thin lips tightened and disappeared.

  “Um, nice to meet you, Creep,” Parker said.

  Creep didn’t appear to be interested in talking to them anymore. That was fine with Jayden since the kid’s name actually fit his look. The kid wandered off, presumably to continue his hunt for a smoke.

  “Hey, check her out,” Parker said, pointing at a pretty girl, barely five feet tall, with thinly plucked eyebrows, a small nose, and amber eyes.

  Jayden realized she was the girl from the bus who’d looked as though she’d been crying all night. The one with the pixie haircut.

  “Would you chill?” Jayden said. “Stop flirting, Pop Star, and get serious.”

  “Shut up, Surfer Boy,” Parker jested. “I just meant she might be able to help us.”

  “Because she’s cute? Whatever.” Jayden shook his head as they approached the girl.

  “You okay?” Parker asked her.

  She sniffled and shrugged. “I guess.”

  “I’m Parker, and this is my friend, Jayden.”

  “I’m Cleo,” she said.

  “Do you know where we’re going?” Parker asked.

  “Guess some place for training and working. My mom said I’d be like a foreign exchange student or a Peace Corps worker,” she said. “Learning in a place totally international, like Canada or Mexico.”

  “What’d they tell you when you signed up?” Parker asked.

  “Nothing more than what’s on their flyer.” Cleo pulled out a rumpled recruiting paper.

  They had seen it before.

  “At least my family will be taken care of,” she continued. “My mom really needs the five hundred dollars per week.”

  “Where you from?” Jayden asked her.

  “We have a small apartment on the east side of San Jose. My parents have been out of work for a while now.” She shook her head. “I want to help them, that’s all.”

  “How’d you get recruited?” Parker asked.

  “Guys dressed in black knocked on all the doors in our neighborhood and handed out the flyers. Most of the people living
around us are out of work.”

  “Was there writing on their hats?” Jayden asked.

  “I think so,” Cleo replied softly. “Something starting with S, I think. I’m not sure, really.”

  Parker softened his voice. “So you joined?”

  “We were getting kicked out of our place anyway. No way I want to be homeless during freshman year at Eastside High, so yeah, I volunteered. They told me the money I earned would go to my parents. I’ll be able to finish school when I get on-site.” Cleo pointed to another group of recruits. “There are lots of kids here from my neighborhood.”

  “Your parents were okay with you leaving?” Parker asked, shooting Jayden a wide-eyed stare.

  Jayden ignored him.

  Tears filled her eyes. “Not really. But with no jobs . . .” She looked down, her voice fading for a moment.

  “My mom signed their form, and the next thing I knew . . .” She pointed at the bus. “He picked me up. This all happened in the last twenty-four hours. I didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye to my friends. But you know, life will be better for my mom, right?”

  “Look. You really need to get out of here,” Parker said.

  “What?” Cleo, muttered, shock written all over her face.

  “He’s right,” Jayden said. “None of this feels right. We think something else might be going on.”

  Cleo shook her head again. “Thanks for your concern, guys, but I don’t have a choice.”

  Jayden and Parker peered at each other, then at the group. World Corp was setting their sights on families with financial problems. But Jayden thought Cleo was probably right. She really didn’t have much of a choice.

  “Stick with us,” Parker said. “We’re forming a clan.”

  We are? Jayden thought.

  “A what?” Cleo asked.

  Parker took a fighting stance. “Ever played an online shooter game?”

  What is he doing? Jayden wondered, shaking his head.

  “A shooter game?” Cleo asked.

  “Yeah, multiple players, on-line shooter.” Parker paused. “Well, never mind. Just stick with us. We figure there’s safety in numbers.”