Alien Invaders from Beyond the Stars

by George Ivanoff

  You shake your head, refusing to talk.

  ‘Have it your way,’ says the field marshal, heading for the door. ‘We shall extract the information directly from your brain.’ He pauses outside and looks back in.

  Is that a smile on his reptilian features? You can’t quite tell.

  ‘Of course,’ he continues, ‘the process will leave you without any thoughts at all.’

  The door slides shut.

  You shout. You’ve changed your mind. You don’t want all thoughts removed from your brain!

  But it’s too late.

  You realise you can’t move. You are being held in the chair by some sort of force field.

  A whining sound fills the room. Bright lights dance across the ceiling.

  Your brain feels fuzzy.

  The sound gets louder.

  The lights descend, spinning around you.

  You lose sense of your surroundings.

  Random thoughts spring to your mind … and then disappear. Lost!

  And then all is silent and still.

  You wonder where you are.

  You wonder who you are.

  The alien finishes talking into the device and leads you into the silver tent. On the ground is a metal disc, about a metre in diameter. She indicates that you should stand on it. You do.

  Your surroundings shimmer and dissolve.

  You are in a metal room. In front of you is a lizard in a silver jumpsuit. So this is what the aliens really look like! Reptiles – green scaly skin, black eyes and sharp teeth. The creature pushes you and you stumble back into a casket of some sort. The lid is slammed shut. You are trapped.

  In the lid of this metal box is a window. You watch the alien lizard operate some equipment.

  You hear a gentle hissing sound, like gas escaping.

  It’s getting colder. Misty vapour, like breath that’s condensing, is swirling up around you.

  The alien said you were to be put in storage … Are they freezing you, like a popsicle?

  You’re scared. You feel panicky. But your heart isn’t racing. In fact, it’s slowing down. And it’s getting colder still.

  You feel like sleeping. Your eyelids close. You think to yourself that you really should try to fight it … but you’re not sure you can find the energy.

  Do you try to get out? Go here.

  Or do you go to sleep? Go here.

  You jump forward and snatch the silver tube from the alien’s belt, pointing it directly at her.

  ‘Hang on a tick,’ she says into the communicator. Then she looks at you and laughs. ‘That’s not a weapon. It’s my portable camouflage device.’

  You’re not sure if what she’s saying is true.

  ‘Seriously?’ Her hands are on her hips now. ‘Pull the trigger and all you’re going to do is dissolve my fake human skin.’

  Do you believe her?

  If you do, hand back the silver tube. Go here.

  If you don’t, pull the trigger. Go here.

  You decide on the Amazon jungle.

  Your surroundings shimmer and dissolve.

  You are standing in a jungle, surrounded by trees, vines, ferns and bushes, your feet in swampy water up to your ankles.

  You’ve done it! You’ve escaped from the aliens! They’ll never find you here. You are safe.

  You set off through the undergrowth and walk straight into an enormous spider web. Even though you try to wipe it off, the web sticks to your face. You stumble around blindly until you trip into the water.

  You wash off the clinging web and look up …

  Straight into the multiple eyes of a spider. Not just an ordinary spider. A whopping great big spider about the size of a puppy dog!

  You scream, jump to your feet and run. You stagger through the jungle and straight into a pack of monkeys. Well, at least it’s better than a spider, you think … until they attack, grabbing, pinching and pulling at you, nipping with their sharp little teeth and scratching with their claws.

  You run again. You make it into a clearing and see a cave in the rock face up ahead. You head for it. Until …

  You are stopped in your tracks by a roar.

  Out of the cave appears a black panther.

  You hold your breath, hoping that it doesn’t see you.

  But you’re out in the open.

  The panther turns its head towards you, fixing you with its green eyes. It opens its jaws wide and you run.

  Back into the jungle and straight up a tree.

  Can panthers climb, you wonder?

  But you don’t have long to think. The panther is the least of your worries now that you realise the branch you’re clinging on to isn’t actually a branch …

  It’s a python!

  And it’s wrapping itself around you.

  Squeezing.

  It’s getting hard to breathe.

  Maybe you should have stayed on the alien spaceship? At least there were no snakes there …

  You ask Oky to take you to the brain.

  ‘Follow me, dude,’ he says, heading out the door. ‘It’s right in the centre of the ship.’

  He leads you through a maze of corridors to the control room.

  Your eyes are immediately drawn to the middle of the circular space. There is a brain bobbing about in a large jar of thick, green-tinged liquid. There are wires connected to the brain with little metal rods, making it look a bit like a bizarre pincushion.

  Some of the wires lead to a pair of artificial eyes, which sit at the ends of flexible metal stalks perched on top of the jar. Other wires lead to a little speaker attached to the front of the jar. More wires lead to the two microphones attached to either side, like ears.

  The jar itself is on a stand covered in computer equipment – some sort of life-support system, perhaps?

  ‘Hey there, Big B.’ Oky salutes the brain. ‘I’ve brought an Earth creature for a visit. He wants to have a little chat about tomorrow’s invasion thing.’

  The eyes on the jar swivel towards you.

  ‘Earth creature.’ The gurgly, electronic voice is coming from the speaker. ‘Entertain me!’

  What? You’re not sure what it means. You stare at it in surprise.

  ‘Entertain me!’ the brain repeats. ‘Entertain me … or die!’

  Entertain it? How are you going to entertain a brain in a jar? You desperately try to think of something, and three possibilities come to mind …

  You could sing to it. Your mum is always telling you how much she likes your singing. Maybe the brain will find that entertaining.

  Or, maybe, because it’s a brain, it would need something intellectual? Perhaps you could think back to your maths class and talk to it about long division?

  Then again, you could just let the brain play the games on your phone? After all, who doesn’t like video games?

  If you decide to sing, go here.

  If you think it would be better to go with the maths, go here.

  But if you reckon games would be best, go here.

  You take a deep breath and begin to sing. The brain vibrates slightly in its liquid. Does that mean it likes your voice?

  You sing louder.

  A moan crackles through the speaker as the brain squirms about in the jar.

  You hit a high note.

  The liquid bubbles as the brain spasms.

  ‘Ahhhhhhhhh!’ The scream comes from the speaker.

  You realise that your singing is distressing the brain. You have power over it! Maybe this is a way for you to convince it not to invade Earth? A chance for you to show the brain who’s boss.

  You hit that high note again – louder and longer.

  Without warning, the brain explodes, the jar shattering and spilling green-tinged liquid.

  ‘Dude!’ says Oky. ‘You 86-ed the Big B! Now we’re in real trouble.’ He drops to his knees, trying to pick up all the little brain bits. ‘It was linked to the ship’s core. Without the brain, the core will overload and the ship will explode … just like
the Big B!’

  Your first instinct is to run for your life and get off the ship. But what about Oky?

  If you want to run, go here.

  If you decide to bring Oky with you, go here.

  You decide to release the FISH woman. Maybe hippies do know best?

  You touch the wall panel opposite her cell. The laser beams flicker and disappear.

  She steps out and smiles. ‘Good move, kid. Now, let’s go stop the invasion of Earth … by blowing up this spaceship!’

  She strides off along a corridor.

  If you want to follow her, go here.

  If you’ d rather go off on your own to escape the alien ship, go here.

  You must fight it. You can’t just let them freeze you.

  You force yourself to open your eyes and move. You bang your fists on the little window and scrabble at the walls.

  A lizard face appears at the window. It stares in at you. You panic even more, clawing at the walls. The creature shakes its head.

  Your fingers find a crack. Digging your nails into it, you pull. A little panel pops open. You reach in, grasping wires, and pull again.

  There’s a flash of light, a pop and some sparks.

  Then everything goes dark. The hissing sound stops.

  You can’t see anything through the window.

  The coldness seeps away.

  You bang your fists.

  You begin to sweat.

  You’re short of breath.

  In fact, breathing is getting hard.

  The darkness and silence close in on you.

  You shut your eyes … for the last time.

  After a moment’s hesitation you pull the trigger.

  A spray clouds the alien’s features, and when it clears, she no longer looks human. Her skin is dripping and melting away to reveal green scales, black eyes and sharp teeth …

  She’s a lizard person!

  You freak out, and you run!

  Heart pounding, fear coursing through your body, you sprint into the national park. You weave around the trees, crash through the bushes and plunge into a stream, wading to the other side.

  You run for ages; you don’t want to stop.

  Suddenly the ground gives way beneath you and you fall into a pit.

  You try to clamber out, but all you manage to do is dislodge soil. Keep that up and soon you’ll be buried alive. You have no option but to stay where you are, too scared to yell for help in case the aliens come.

  Something peers over the edge. A dirty face with matted hair, a scraggly beard and mad eyes.

  ‘Well, lookie here,’ says the strange man. ‘I caught me an alien.’

  You try to explain that you’re human.

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ says the man. ‘I know you sneaky aliens can disguise yourselves. And besides, you’re holding an alien thingie.’

  You realise that you still have the silver tube. You drop it and insist it’s not yours.

  The man shakes his head, and laughs. ‘Think I’m gonna leave you right where you are while I go and dig me some more alien traps.’

  And with a little wave, he’s gone.

  You shout. But he doesn’t come back. You’re no longer worried about attracting the aliens’ attention – you just want to get out of the pit.

  You yell and yell. But nobody comes.

  It starts to rain. The soil turns to mush. Slowly, the sides of the pit begin to cave in, covering you with mud. You struggle to keep your head out in the open. But the rain is getting stronger.

  How long before you’re completely buried?

  You release the alien plant prince.

  ‘You must carry me to a communications console so that I may call my people,’ demands Prince Ficus.

  You weren’t counting on having to carry the potted plant around.

  ‘Release me,’ shouts the FISH woman from the other cell. ‘Unlike the plant, I have legs.’

  If you want to carry the plant, go here.

  If you want to leave the plant and free the hippie woman, go here.

  Or you could just run off on your own. Go here.

  You reach into your pocket and pull out your phone. Still no reception.

  You hold the phone in front of you, and tell the brain that you have seven different games on it. A metallic pincer on a flexible tendril snakes out and snatches the phone from your hand.

  ‘Games?’ gurgles the brain. ‘What are games?’

  You try to explain that games are for playing, for fun. Their purpose is to entertain.

  ‘Hmmmm.’ The pincer holds your phone up to the brain’s artificial eyes, turning it this way and that. ‘Standard connection, I see.’

  A tendril snakes out and attaches itself to the phone. On the wall behind the brain, a screen lights up with the phone’s display. You direct the brain through the options to the games.

  The brain starts to play.

  ‘Oh, cool,’ says Oky. ‘It’s just like television.’

  ‘Fascinating,’ says the brain.

  On the screen, the game progress goes faster and faster, until it is flashing past too rapidly to follow. It goes from one game to the next until …

  ‘Done!’ announces the brain. ‘An interesting but momentary diversion.’

  These alien brains sure get bored easily.

  ‘Indeed,’ gurgles the brain. ‘Our intellectual capacity is so great that we require constant stimulation. Without it we would wither and cease to exist.’

  ‘True,’ pipes up Oky. ‘They would literally die of boredom.’

  ‘This is why we invade planets,’ continues the brain. ‘So much planning and preparation. Tactics and logistics. Information to assimilate. Armies to manoeuvre. Ever so entertaining!’

  Well, this isn’t what you expected.

  ‘What other entertainment can your device offer me before I dispose of it … and you?’

  On the screen, you see the brain searching through the contents. It stops at a photograph of you and your parents in front of the guesthouse.

  ‘What is this?’

  You explain that it’s just a holiday photo.

  ‘Bored now,’ said the brain. ‘The time has come for your termination.’

  What else can you do to entertain the brain?

  Perhaps you should show it more holiday photos? Or maybe more videos games? If the brain has internet access, there would be thousands of games for it to play.

  If you want to go with the photos, go here.

  If you think games are a better option, go here.

  You turn and run!

  As you dash along one corridor after another, you realise that they all look the same. In your panic, you haven’t paid any attention to which way you’ve gone. You’re lost.

  An alarm begins to blare. The lights dim. Your panic increases.

  You reach a dead end and turn back.

  You try another corridor and run straight into a group of large, mean-looking lizard men.

  You race in the opposite direction, the reptile aliens now chasing you.

  You dash down another corridor and at the end you see a hatch leading out. You’re only a couple of metres from safety when …

  BOOM!

  The spaceship erupts around you.

  You help Oky up to his feet and drag him out of the room. You randomly run down corridors, pulling Oky behind you – but you can’t remember which way to go.

  ‘Dude,’ says Oky, yanking free of your grasp. ‘I know where the exit is.’

  With Oky now leading, it’s not long before you are out in the national park and running through the trees.

  The spaceship erupts behind you and you are both thrown to the ground.

  As you sit up, Oky tells you that Earth is now safe. With the scout ship destroyed, the main fleet will assume Earth has a secret weapon … and they will move on to another planet instead.

  ‘But now,’ says Oky sadly, ‘I’m stuck on Earth.’

  You feel responsible for his predicament
. Oky helped you get off the ship, so now you offer to help him. But what can you do?

  If you want to introduce Oky to your parents in the hopes that they will help, go here.

  Or maybe it would be better to hide him until you can work out what to do. Go here.

  You follow the woman as she strides along the corridors. She seems to know exactly where she is going.

  ‘I’ve managed to discover quite a lot over the years,’ she says, coming to a halt beside a doorway. ‘Like the fact that in here is a control panel that links directly to the core of the ship.’

  Years?

  ‘Yep,’ she answers matter-of-factly. ‘Got abducted four years ago on a lonely country road, along with a cow, two sheep and some ducks. I got questioned, probed, catalogued and then filed away in a cell. Never told them a thing. The cow turned traitor and blabbed. The sheep escaped. And the ducks ended up as dinner.’

  You wonder if she’s been here a little too long, but follow her into the room.

  There’s a lizard person working the controls. He sees you and sets off an alarm.

  The woman calmly walks up to him, grabs his arm, shouts ‘HI-YA’ and flips him over her shoulder. He crashes into the far wall and slides, unconscious, to the floor.

  As the alarm blares, she reaches into the folds of her voluminous dress and pulls out a large chunk of quartz crystal.

  ‘A fundamental part of the hippie culture is the belief in the cosmic power of crystals,’ she explains, closing her eyes and beginning a chant.

  After a few seconds her eyes snap open and she leaps at the panel, repeatedly smashing the crystal onto the controls.

  You hear shouts and footsteps running down the corridor. You try to tell her, but she ignores you, continuing to attack the control panel.