Written by Danielle E. Pasqua
Copyright © November 26, 2017
Standing in the corner of the game room was the nine-foot tall blue spruce that my parents, my sister Lacey and I had cut down for Christmas. But right now, pine needles began to fall and were scattered across the wood floor. Every now and then, whoever was presently in the game room would have to sweep up the mess. The tree had to hold on to its’ glory until New Year’s Day.
“I’m happy I get to sleep in late this week,” I admitted playing Ping Pong with my friends Xavier and Ian. Ian was on Xavier’s team. It was two against one. We just bent the rules for the game.
“This Ping Pong table has a lot of power,” Xavier commented as he hit the ball in the air, before it dropped on the table bouncing off the net,” Is this normal?”
“Nothing is in Noah’s family,” Ian smirked at me, but all I could give him was a grave expression. He then pleaded,” I am right. Aren’t I?”
“I guess so,” I knew I had to agree with Ian, as I ran my hands along the side of the Ping Pong table,” This game is unlike any other I’ve seen. That is for a simple sport.”
“There are a lot of compartments in this room,” Ian eyed the amount of storage the room had,” Do you know what’s in them?’
“I’m not allowed to open them,” I said, just as I missed the ball with my bat and it hit the wall behind me,” My parents are the only one with the key.”
“And you thought the spell was broken?’ Xavier waited for me to retrieve the ball, so we could get back to our match.
“What spell?” I asked, as I tossed the ball in the air, taking a light hit with my bat.
“I mean your parents have been acting human lately,” Xavier waited for my reply while he returned the ball with a smooth serve, only to have the silence broken.
A screeching sound rose from outside. In fact, to me it sounded like a jet arriving at an airport. We were too far out into the Sound to have any sky bound transportation nearby.
Then the house began to vibrate. It was as if the earth had two extra plates merging underneath the East coast. But I knew that couldn’t be.
Then the Ping Pong ball began to bounce up and down from ceiling to the floor.
“What is going on?” Ian asked.
I tried to come up with a plausible answer for my friend’s concern. Then I walked over to the bay window, where below me was the driveway. But it was dark, and so was the day. Late afternoon before dinner and I hadn’t smelled my mother’s cooking. She said she was making a fajita dish, but no spicy aroma touched my senses.
“Let’s go and look,” Xavier was behind me, observant of the darkness that lied beneath us.
We all ran downstairs to the garage, only to see a triangular ship before us. My friends and I stood still in our tracks, but Ian had mentioned,” It’s the same ship that broke through the ice on ‘The Bridge.’”
“You’re right,” I agreed as I pointed to the large exhaust pipe beneath its’ tail, which appeared to be spitting out water vapor, not fuel.
Then a hatch opened on the side. A dark figure stepped out, only to see the familiarity in my eyes,” Dad what are you doing home? I thought you were at work.”
“Would you like to go on a tour?” my father asked.
“Where?”
“My job. Where they build transports like this. We’ll get there in a minute,” my father promised. He then turned around to grab three spacesuits.
“Are you sure you want us in your ship?’ Ian asked.
“I agree,” Xavier said.
But my father didn’t say a word.
I didn’t either. But a glare was visible from the side of the ship. I must’ve left the game room light on, but I could’ve sworn I turned it off. I looked up only to see my sister Lacey and my mother staring out from the window.
“What about Lacey?’ I asked.
“She’s already seen it,” my father explained and then added,” Come. Join ‘The Tour’.”
Then the tree of us stepped in, put on our space suits. We had no clue of what was to happen next.
The ship’s inside was all metallic rock, in which my father said that this ship used to be an asteroid, but at High Tech Star Gateway Machinery where he worked, they had the right tools to carve an asteroid into a ship. He had us all take a seat behind him, as if we were passengers on this imaginary vessel, that would take us to places we had never been.
“Now boys. We can’t leave the ship. Contamination is a concern,” my father began to change the gears into reverse. He then went on to say,” This ship gives the best views of my top-secret manufacturing company. The ships are made in all different buildings that travel beneath the ground. They are powered by energy from Earth’s weather such as lightning.”
“How can we see this process?’ I asked.
“Just look out our surrounding windows. When we reach the plant, then you will see,” my father promised, just as the ship took off above the house and out of sight.
It wasn’t long before we reached my father’s work place. I felt the pressure drop as we traveled further and further down below the grounds of the factory. There were humans, aliens and robots designing ships that looked like test models for an object like “The Rock” we found last summer. My father told us that the earth was doing this to prepare generations to have the courage to civilize other worlds
But Ian’s hand gesture interrupted my concentration on my father’s speech. Ian pointed to an object sticking out of one of the control switches on the ship. It was next to the pilot’s seat.
“I know what it is,” I whispered to my friend. I unbuckled my seat belt, so I could get a closer look. Then as I studied the object, an oyster seashell burning with power. I saw a world I didn’t recognize. A planet that was heavily cratered, yet with enormous silver skyscrapers that rose on this closed world to earth. But in the next picture was a mirror image of me in this spacesuit. Yet nothing compared to what I’d see next, a youthful reptile with dark eyes. I jumped back in fright, just as both my friends, who were seated behind me, somehow stopped me from losing my balance.
“Dad is that ‘The Heirloom?’” I asked sitting back in my seat, as we still passed through the manufacturers, only to enter the building that created the fuel tanks. Ice water enhanced for fuel during the winter months.
“Yes, it’s the GPS for the ship. A long-term project we’re working on,” my father explained as the space cruiser slowed down, yet the world around us flew by. I knew we were at the end of “The Tour”, at least I thought so for now.
“What project?” I asked.
“Can’t say. You’re not ready for it.”
“Why doesn’t Lacey have it?” I asked. I remembered at the beach where she had it locked in her bag. She told me it was our family “Heirloom.”
“She stole it. It’s not hers.”
“What?” I asked in disbelief.
For some reason “The Heirloom” was sensitive to our conversation. It began to vibrate, discharging itself from its’ casing and rolled out to where my friends and I were buckled in. Right after that the ship maneuvered up with its’ nose straight in the air.
“The battery was low in ‘The Heirloom.’ For some reason the charger wasn’t working,” my father yelled as he tried to steady the ship as we headed towards the upper part of the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Is it that sensitive?” I asked.
“Apparently. It goes crazy when there’s limited power,” my father explained, but tried to keep us entertained,” Now we are on a space tour.”
Finally, the ship entered right below the exosphere, where above us satellites and asteroids were orbiting the earth. My father docked the ship not far from the International Space Station.
“Can the astronauts see us?” I asked.
“No. We are invisible to every satellite. Including ships,” my father answered.
“Why?’ I asked.
“This is top secret stuff. Only very few of us know. Including you three,” my father explained as he unfastened his seat belt, so he could pick up the escaped “Heirloom.”
“Now what do we do?” I asked.
“Take in the view,” my father suggested as he strapped himself in again, “You can see my plant from the sky.”
My father then zoomed into the part of the Sound where he worked. He pointed out the different buildings that made up High Tech Star Gateway Machinery. To the east was the entrance to the facility shaped like an “I” and he said if one wanted to leave the facility they would be escorted by security back to the entrance. In the middle, the airport was shaped like an “X” so that planes leaving or entering the plant wouldn’t cross each other paths, due to the sound barrier. To the west was what he called the main building shaped like an “N,” which was where all the offices were, and underground were the manufacturing facilities where we had recently flown through.
“That is scary, Dad. How can our initials reflect these build- “I began to say.
“Somethings are just meant to be,” my father explained,” The three of you are special.”
But something seemed to have changed our minds, when we observed the earth’s northern lights. I said to my father,” This reminds me of “The Globe.”
“Yeah, I was testing that globe. The long-term effects on earth. I compared it to other habitable planets such as- “
Then the ship began to move in circles.
“Somebody knows we’re here,” my father yelled as the alarm on the ship began to ring and all the control lights started blinking.
“Who sees us?” I asked trying to hold on.
“A competing government official,” my father answered, his face still turned to the front of the ship. He then turned a lever to open the floor of the ship and ordered,” Noah, take ‘The Heirloom’ back to earth. Boys get in the capsules and parachute your way down. You don’t have to worry about operating it. I’ve programmed the wind to take you home.”
On our way down, we formed a triangular pattern. As usual I was the lead, Xavier above to my right and Ian to my left. It was amazing seeing the sun rise, enormous than it had been viewed from the grounds of earth. But as I took in this heavenly panorama, I heard Xavier yell through my capsule’s speakers,” Look over there to the west.”
Dozens of stars could be seen above the horizon, but I knew that wouldn’t last for long. Instead there were hot air balloons floating in the skies, many with these aliens aboard. But they disappeared into the atmosphere and all was left were my friends, as the speed of the earth’s gravity pulled us closer to the ground.
The shoreline of the Sound, near to where we had lived, remained clear to us. But somehow, we flew inland, and I could make out the roads of our development. We weren’t headed there. I figured my father was taking us to a hidden area, in which we would camouflage ourselves from society. Then we took a hard bump on the ground. The three of us were sore as ever.
I heard laughter. Then I peeked through the trees, only to realize we were near the pond where we always played hockey. I checked to see if “The Heirloom” was still in the side pocket of my suit. I told my friends it was O.K. to leave but not to cross the pond to get back to our homes. I also suggested to hide our capsules beneath some branches.
“I believe we should take pictures of our capsules,” Ian suggested as he held up his phone,” That way we have an alibi if anyone asks where we went.”
“You know this story of ours will disappear,” I told my friends, though I didn’t want to disappoint him.
“The one you wrote,” Xavier pointed his finger to me, as he tried to get his long legs out of the capsule,” These are small. They must be made for short aliens.”
“Like us,” I said,” Besides the smarter the better.”
Quietness laid in the air between us, but the pond’s joyous cries made up for the fact, that life had its’ pleasures.
“Where’s your Dad now?” Xavier asked.
“That’s what I am trying to find out,” I answered as I tried to message my father on my phone. “The Heirloom” was in my other hand. Then my father got back to me.
I need ‘The Heirloom’, son. I only left it with you because I was afraid it would be destroyed. So, would my company. So, would other beings who were trying to help the earth.
Then I messaged my father back, Where are you? Where is your ship?
Then my father flew over the pond with a silent streak.
I was relieved.
“Do you think anybody saw that ship?” Ian asked.
I pulled some branches apart to watch the pond. The children there were still playing.
“No just us,” I assured my friends.
“Where is your father going?” Xavier asked.
“Probably back to his job,” I answered.
“I guess we can play hockey,” Ian suggested.
“No, I think we should play indoors,” I said as I started to walk away,” Let’s play Ping Pong.”
That night I climbed outside my window. I sat on the roof to watch the stars. I looked forward to finding the Winter Triangle, but a mysterious cloud covered its’ view. I couldn’t believe it was New Year’s Eve. Did my friends and I fly through a time warp? I checked my phone. Ian had sent me pictures of our hidden capsules. I was surprised that it wasn’t erased, but the closer I looked, the capsules had evolved into tree trunks, slowly morphing as I zoomed into the photo.
There was no snow in two days. There was also a fear of global warming. I figured it was because of the fuel that my father and the aliens had burned in the skies. Boiling hot water, steaming the atmosphere.
My father arrived late from work, but instead of the pulling into the garage, he stepped out. He then stood below me in front of the house.
“Did you enjoy ‘’The Tour?’,” my father mentioned,” It wasn’t what I planned for you boys.”
“Dad, where are we from?”
“I will trade ‘The Heirloom’ for a fastball.”
Then my father tossed me a baseball. I almost missed it because of its’ gravitational force. I asked him,” Where did you get it?”
“In one of the secret compartments in the game room.”
“When will I be allowed to see what is in there?”
“As you know I’m the only one with the key. If you ever want any kind of ball for any sport on earth or elsewhere. Let me know.”
“Elsewhere?” I questioned only to see my father ready to catch “The Heirloom.” Then I tossed it so that it fell like a feather, though bright and dense just like a neutron star. The Christmas lights on the roof appeared dim to this unearthly artifact.
“I’m ready to learn, Dad. The long-term project. The one you told me about.”
“Happy New Year’s son,” my father ignored my statement, but then asked,” Do you have a resolution?”
“No, do you?”
“I have one.”
“What’s that?”
“To go back to our planet.”
“Why?”
“We’re not from here Noah.”
“Then where?”
“I can’t say.”
“Never?”
My father didn’t answer.
He walked to the cellar door.
Conducting another science experiment.
Only shared with aliens.
Some probably like me.
Oh, boy.