The Simpleton: An Alien Encounter

by Mark Wayne McGinnis

  Jackie gasped aloud as spectacular, sparkling white lights began fountaining upward in the air. Slowly, opening from the pod’s top, one by one large leaves curled backward and then, one after another, slowly extended outward, eventually coming to rest on the lower deck. So many leaf layers she lost count. By now, the soft breeze had turned into a steady cool wind.

  Jackie smiled and then laughed at the spectacular beauty. She spun her body around and around—taking in the moving, sparkling, lights encircling them—so many dazzling lights. And then they became conscious of being present within a spectacular spiraling galaxy—of countless slow-moving stars within a universe of unimaginable depth.

  Jackie’s eyes then caught sight of Tow, now standing. He was gazing at something deep within the distant swirling stars. Cuddy, next to him, seemed to glow even brighter than Tow. Beautiful subtle hues—pinks and blues and greens—emanated from him.

  Jackie then could see what Tow was so enthralled with. A star was moving—getting closer—growing larger. As the glittering light took on form, the shape of an actual being, Jackie knew it was a Pashier. One like Tow … but instead, a beautiful female. Her features were small—her expression full of anticipation. Holding her hand out, she beckoned Tow toward her.

  Together, Tow and Cuddy walked forward—deeper and deeper into that starlit brightness that increased with their every step. Squinting now—the light becoming too bright to see into—brighter than the Sun—Jackie was forced to hold a hand before her eyes. And then, just as suddenly, the blinding light was gone, the musical tones quieted. The swirling stars were now moving in the opposite direction—returning back to the pod. The heritage pod’s giant leaves began to rise off the deck and reform into their original pod-like shape. Jackie’s eyes roamed the space—searching for Tow and Cuddy. They weren’t there. They were gone. Her mind raced … had Cuddy delivered Tow into that incredible afterlife realm … never to return? Without so much as saying a goodbye? Suddenly, her sense of loss was profound, but then, all too quickly, her sadness turned to anger. Her hands tightened into fists, her breath quickening with the passage of every progressive second. How could he … just leave us here? Leave me here?

  The glittering lights were all but gone now, hastening their rate as they funneled into the top of the heritage pod. All but one.

  Jackie took a hesitant step forward, her eyes not wavering from the barely perceptive, yet increasing in size, light. Cuddy’s form soon took shape and she saw him walking toward her—crossing from that ethereal realm of glittering stars, an infinite universe—back to the everyday reality of the here and now.

  Running toward him before she realized it, her arms open, she pulled Cuddy to her with desperation—with hunger for closeness she was unaware she felt. Burying her face into his chest, she sobbed uncontrollably as his strong arms enveloped her. Then she heard his voice by her ear. “It was so beautiful there, Jackie, like nothing you could possibly imagine. But it wasn’t my time to stay. And I felt you … felt you pulling me back here.”

  Suddenly embarrassed, Jackie pushed herself away. Briefly looking up, without making eye contact, she noted the tears on his cheeks.

  He said, “I wish … I wish he didn’t have to leave. I already miss him.”

  “You said something … before. You said, maybe someday?”

  Cuddy didn’t reply, instead stared across at the lone body, lying on the deck. “I now must bury my friend.”

  Jackie watched Cuddy move away and head toward Tow’s body. She hadn’t realized it until that very moment, but what she’d earlier witnessed was something else … perhaps Tow’s essence—rising up, departing. What remained here was simply his discarded form.

  Gently, Cuddy picked up Tow’s body. The AI orb, hovering mere feet away, stayed close by them. As Cuddy passed Jackie, he requested, “In the hold … can you find me something to dig with.”

  * * *

  Dusk had now turned into night and a waxing moon was providing just enough light to see by. Deep in the woods, they discovered seven elongated mounds of soil. Cuddy had found the burial site of Tow’s deceased crewmembers. Although Kyle offered, Cuddy insisted that he, himself, should dig Tow’s grave, and then made it as deep and symmetrical a rectangle as he could manage.

  Perspiration and dirt covered Cuddy from head to toe. Now, standing within the six-foot-deep hole, he reached up a hand. Tony and Kyle pulled him up and out, and then—with their help—lowered Tow’s body into the grave. Taking turns, they refilled the hole, shoveling in the piled up soil around it.

  Cuddy spent several minutes looking for eight round rocks—each approximately the same size—and set them in a pile. When the last one dropped onto the pile, Cuddy turned to the AI orb, hovering nearby. He gestured toward the rocks then toward the elongated mound of soil. The orb moved with silent efficiency—taking ahold, one by one, one rock after another, delivering each to the head of the mound of Tow’s grave, then placed them around the top of the gravesite forming a perfect circle.

  Jackie questioned, “Eight … the number of crewmembers on the Evermore?”

  Cuddy nodded and attempted a smile. She smiled back, though she still hadn’t made eye contact with him since their embrace. He didn’t fully understand the whole situation.

  Tony Bone asked, “What now?” turning toward Kyle, who was patting dust and dirt from his jeans. Kyle shrugged and looked at Jackie, then at Cuddy.

  “Now … we take back our planet,” Cuddy told them.

  Chapter 32

  They were running now—Cuddy, Jackie, Kyle and Tony. They leapt over the babbling brook, heading toward the edge of the forest where it met the Perkins’ property-line boundary. Rufus and the AI orb easily kept pace as the four hurried around the corral, into the barn, then out the other side. The horse was in the pasture, eating hay.

  Cuddy yelled to the orb, “Get to the ship … I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  The AI orb did as it was instructed, while the others detoured left—toward the house. Cuddy, first to reach the porch, noted the battered screen door and that the front door was both closed and locked. Pounding on it with a clenched fist, he yelled, “Momma?”

  He knocked again, then looked back at Kyle. Shrugging, his brother leapt from the porch and moved around to the large front-facing kitchen window. He brought his face close to the glass and peered in. “It’s dark … can’t see a thing inside.”

  “There!” Jackie said. “My car.”

  Cuddy watched her quickly stride across the old wooden planks, hop off the porch, and then hurry over to her car. In the dark, he’d missed it—a piece of white notebook paper lay pinned beneath one of the windshield wipers.

  Jackie pulled it free and began to read. After several beats she looked up and, cocking her head to one side, smiling, said, “She’s gone.”

  “Momma?”

  “I guess Officer Plumkin brought her car back. She left right after that … says she’s at the hospital. Got freaked out being all alone here, with those dead aliens lying around.”

  “Can’t really blame her,” Tony said. “I’m a little creeped out myself.”

  All eyes went to Cuddy. “We can’t wait,” he said, looking at Kyle. “Are you coming with me?”

  The question took Kyle off guard. “You need to ask? Yeah … I’m coming!”

  “I’m coming too!” Jackie said.

  Cuddy stared back at her for a long moment. “You can’t … you can’t come with us.”

  “Why not! What are you talking about?”

  “It’s something Tow told me before … before he left. He told me you were to stay here when we took off in the Howsh ship, along with some other things as well. He was very clear … you were not to travel with us.”

  “Well, too bad, I’m going anyway.”

  “If we survive … we’ll be back for the Evermore, and the other thing I will then need to do.”

  “Other thing?” Kyle asked.

  Jackie answered the question
first, clearly angry. “Take the Evermore—the heritage pod—to some flippin’ world on the other side of the galaxy. That’s all … no big deal. But first, he has to run off and fight two alien spacecraft. Hey, it’s all in a day’s work, right? You don’t need me …”

  “I’m sorry, Jackie. Please tell Momma, well … just tell her goodbye for me … for us, okay?”

  Tony broke the tension: “Hey, maybe I should stay here, too. Go with Jackie back to the hospital.”

  Fuming, Jackie still continued to glare at Cuddy. “No … go with them, Tony,” she said firmly, bringing her attention to him. “They’ll need your help.”

  “One more thing,” Cuddy said.

  “Uh huh … what’s that?” Jackie asked, already walking toward her car.

  “Could you take Rufus with you?”

  The question somewhat softened her stony expression. “Whatever. Rufus, come on …”

  They watched Jackie climb into her car, then reach across and open the passenger-side door. She called for the dog.

  “Go on, boy,” Cuddy said.

  Jackie called again and the old yellow lab jumped into the passenger seat of the VW. The door closed as the engine sprang to life. Revving up the engine, she put the car in reverse then backed out. After completing a three-point turn, she sped up the drive. At the top of the driveway she drove beneath the Howsh spacecraft, maneuvering around several dead Howsh bodies, and then she was gone—speeding away. Cuddy watched until the VW’s taillights disappeared into the oncoming darkness.

  * * *

  Cuddy led the way up the gangway into the Howsh ship. Knowing Tow was no longer there—he felt alone. Almost disconnected.

  “Isn’t there a way to like … open a window in here, or something?” Tony asked, adding, “That smell … it’s like a combination of shit, a wet blanket, and Rudy Myers’ body odor, in 6th grade gym class. Remember Rudy Myers, Kyle?”

  Kyle said, “Yeah, he was younger than me … few grades lower, but I remember Rudy. I then discovered he was a fellow inmate when at Whiteville. No surprise … he still had that outrageous BO.”

  Climbing the last set of stairs, Cuddy listened to them talk. For the first time, he felt slighted—like he’d missed out on some part of life most boys took for granted.

  Reaching the bridge, they could see the AI orb hovering low in front of the primary forward console. “Everything ready to go?” Cuddy asked, taking a seat. Kyle and Tony sat down too, both seeming rather nervous. Cuddy knew that he, more than likely, looked equally uneasy.

  “Yes, Cuddy … the spacecraft is nearly ready. I have retracted the gangway. The Arm of Lia is ready to lift off.”

  “Wait … that’s what this ship’s called? The Arm of Lia? That’s the stupidest name for a ship I’ve ever heard,” Kyle barked out.

  “Yeah,” Tony said, “we need something bad-ass. Like the Enforcer or Doomsday.”

  “Can we change the ship’s name, AI orb? Is there some way to do that?” Cuddy asked.

  “Yes … it is a simple procedure.”

  Cuddy thought about name-switching for a moment, then said, “Change it to … the Revenge.”

  Both Kyle and Tony nodded appreciatively.

  Tony said, “Um … while we’re at it, that orb thingy has a lame name too. How about we rename it?”

  Cuddy was well aware they were stalling—doing everything possible to avoid the inevitable battle ahead. He studied the AI orb, then said, “Naw … the orb is what Tow referred to it as, so we’ll just keep it.”

  “Plain old orb it is then,” Tony said, going along with his decision.

  “I have reconfigured the ship’s name,” the AI orb said.

  “I guess we should get going, orb. Where are the two Howsh vessels now?”

  “They are together, above the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan. Their current course is northwest, possibly en route to Moscow.”

  “Where were they before that?” Cuddy asked.

  “Bangladesh … it has since been destroyed.”

  “That’s crazy, how is that even possible?” Cuddy said, now watching Tony peer around. “What are you after?” Cuddy asked.

  “Looking for seat belts. Doesn’t this smelly heap have seatbelts?”

  The orb answered, “No, on board there are sufficient G-force compensators. So strapping oneself down will not be necessary.”

  “Let’s just get going, orb. We’ve avoided taking off long enough.”

  The deck beneath their feet began to vibrate and multiple displays sprang to life around the compartment. The elongated observation window, which once held a nighttime view of the house and barn at the bottom of the drive, now showed a sea of black. Cuddy felt a strange uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. He’d never flown before, never been in a plane, so this new sensation of movement—both vertical and horizontal—was disconcerting.

  All three stood, then moved across to various windows on either side of the craft. As the details of the landscape below quickly contracted, like a camera’s zooming out effect, Cuddy could now see the entire town of Woodbury. His eyes found and focused on one of the larger buildings, Stone River Hospital. He thought of Momma, wondering if she was all right. He’d never been this far away from her … not ever. Then he thought of Jackie and found himself smiling, though she’d still be mad at him for quite a while.

  Woodbury now was only a dot in the distance. The Revenge was moving at incredible speed and, true to what the orb had said, there was no sense of movement at all.

  “How long before we reach the other …”

  “Five minutes, Cuddy,” the orb replied.

  Chapter 33

  Kyle was the first to stand, quickly followed by Tony and Cuddy. Bright strobes of red light reflected in through the forward observation window. Plasma strikes. From his vantage point, Cuddy could see fantastic, billowing eruptions of fire within the sprawling devastated city below.

  “That’s what’s left of St. Basil’s Cathedral, and there’s Red Square next to it …” Cuddy said, pointing.

  Both Tony and Kyle glanced over to Cuddy.

  “I remember somehow … must have seen it on TV … maybe National Geographic or something.”

  “Whatever … it’s pretty much rubble now,” Kyle said.

  “Do they know we’re here?” Cuddy asked.

  The orb said, “Yes, of course. They have been tracking our position since we left the ranch. On an ongoing basis, the two ships have been hailing us.”

  “So, they don’t know their sister ship has been seized?” Tony asked.

  “I do not believe so,” the orb replied. “The assumption would be a communications malfunction.”

  “Good … can we get in closer?” Cuddy asked.

  The orb shifted position from one console to another, its articulating arms constantly moving—its mechanical four-fingered hands making new adjustments.

  “Yes, but in monitoring their communications … the captains of both of these Howsh vessels are becoming suspicious. Their guard is up.”

  Cuddy asked, “Where are spaceships, like this one, the weakest … uh, what’s the word?”

  “You mean most vulnerable?” Kyle asked.

  “Aft. The propulsion system,” the orb replied.

  “Up the old tailpipe … huh?” Tony threw in.

  “Let’s do that! Can you find a way to sneak up from behind? Then fire on both ships at the same time?” Cuddy asked, as he watched the orientation of the landscape outside suddenly pivot around. The orb had altered their course. Also, the Revenge’s speed had increased.

  Tony sat back down, reaching out for something to hold on to. As the orb piloted the ship, with what seemed phenomenal skill, Kyle and Cuddy exchanged a quick look. They were moving in fast. Directly ahead of them, Cuddy spotted the enemy ship’s aft thrusters—two on the left and two further away, on the right.

  “Shall I fire the Revenge’s plasma weapons?” the orb asked.

  Tony and Kyle looked at Cuddy. He
sitating, he was reminded that Tow had placed the orb under his direction.

  “Yes! Blow them out of the fucking sky,” Tony interjected.

  The orb waited.

  Cuddy hesitated. Just days ago, he had the mind of a seven-year-old boy; his biggest responsibility was feeding Rufus. And, truthfully, he often was not good remembering to do that. How was it that he, of all people everywhere, was now ready to perform something of such unfathomable importance?

  “Yes, do what he said! Fire … fire!” Cuddy yelled.

  As the orb went on the offensive, Cuddy did his best to take in everything around him: The action outside the observation window; the moving icon representations on the mounted display screens; as well as the orb’s various setting changes and button presses. Somehow, he was tracking it all—actually comprehending complex data he’d never before understood. So this is what it feels like to be smart! It seemed the faster events occurred around him, the more he was able, somehow, to slow things down. As his eyes took in the two Howsh ships out the forward observation window, they appeared to be unmoving, and the orb hovered in slow motion. How am I doing that? Then suddenly the world around him was moving fast—back in real time again. Plasma fire erupted from the Revenge’s port and starboard wing tips. Bright bolts of red coursed through the air—separately tracking the two spacecraft targets.

  “Direct hits on both Howsh ships. They are now taking evasive action,” the orb said.

  “Yes! We got ’em! Did you see that?” Tony yelled, punching the air with a fist.