“This is very interesting… we seem to be getting deeper and deeper into this.” Jade said standing behind Leland’s pilot’s chair. Jessie and Sofie had settled back in their seats.
“We're a million miles from home.” Sofie sniffed. “How are we going to get back?” She broke down. Phyllis was first to put her arm around her as Leland shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
“Look, we're in good shape, we've got the ship, nobody's hurt...” Leland stopped as he noticed Phyllis’s glare. He got up and headed to the kitchen.
“Why a jungle?” Jessie wondered. “Do these aliens live in Jungles?” They sat in silence while Sofie’s sniffling eased. Leland returned balancing a tray holding 5 cups of hot chocolate. He may not be a family man, but at least he knew when to stop talking and when to make hot chocolate.
“Maybe this is a garden?” Sofie sat by the windows, the chocolate having done its job.
“I would bet this is the ships lungs.” Jade said standing next to her. “Imagine the size of this ship and the number of people, or whatever they are, living in it. They all need to breath… and the air has to be replenished and filtered. It works like rain forests do on Earth.”
“So where are the people?” Sofie asked.
“Not sure… Leland, can we raise up a little to get a better look around?” Jade asked.
“Sure, that might be a good idea.” He said walking back to his captain’s chair. A minute later, they were floating above the canopy. He slowly rotated to give them a 360 degree view of the ship sections insides.
“According to our radar it’s about 10 miles end to end. That means this section is about a third the size of the entire ship.” Phyllis read from her console. After one rotation, Leland descended to their original hiding spot.
“Nothing but jungle all around” Phyllis pointed skyward. Being inside a large barrel shaped ship section, the jungle extended up and over their heads.
“Imagine the amount of land there is inside this giant barrel, what is it Pi-R-squared?” Jade asked.
“No, that's the area; I think the circumference is 2-Pi-R.” Sofie corrected. Leland snorted at Jade being one-upped by a kid.
“Right, so 8 miles in diameter times pi, which is 3.14 equals approximately 25 miles around the perimeter, times that with the 10 mile width gives us 250 square miles of jungle out there.” Jade gave Leland a smug look.
“Great, now that we know how much land is in here, what good does that do us?” Jessie dropped down in her chair, arms crossed.
“We need to establish where we are in order to get out of here.” Leland said. “We now know we're in what looks like an unoccupied portion of the ship. That gives us some freedom and some time. But in the same measure, if the aliens don't know where we are, neither do our rescuers.”
“We need to get out of here, and back home!” Sofie sat next to Jessie, also crossing her arms.
“Well, any ideas?” Leland said helplessly to Jade and Phyllis. They looked at each other, crossed their arms and sat down next to Sofie and Jessie. “Very funny; well if it’s up to me, I’d say we’re going to have to do some exploring, and on foot. It's too dangerous to be flying around inside an enemy ship.”
“Exploring for what?” Sofie looked confused.
“We know of at least one exit door. Now we have to figure out how to open it.” Phyllis answered for Leland.
“Is it safe to breath out there?” Phyllis asked. “We don't have any equipment on board to test atmosphere.”
“That's a chance I'll take.” Leland responded. “I think just by the fact that these aliens are here means that the air is breathable… and I would bet they've already been on Earth. Remember that fighter pilot? He seemed human-like, not like a fish or anything.”
“That seems probable, the plant life outside looks almost normal, though I don't recognize much.” Jade said. “But what about any bugs, viruses or diseases that we might be vulnerable to?”
“If these guys are already on Earth, then that's a mute point.” Leland already had thought of that. “There still could be some nasties, so I don't want anyone but me out there.”
Jessie jumped up, so did Sofie. “No way! We've been cooped up here way to long.” Sofie said it first. “and haven't we proved we're useful?” Jessie finished.
Leland looked to Phyllis and Jade for help, but their body language told him they were thinking the same thing. He shrugged. “OK, you guys win. But first, let’s get some food and shut-eye. I think we're going to need all our wits about us, and it also wouldn't hurt to let things calm down a bit before we start poking around.”
Alec's Dream Page 32
