Ben Archer

by Rae Knightly

  The stars became brighter, while a soft wind blew as they stared at the embers, thinking of the events of the day.

  Mesmo interrupted their thoughts. “It is time.”

  Ben and Laura glanced up at him expectantly.

  Then, before they could do anything, Mesmo plunged his whole hand into the boiling water. “No!” Laura yelled in horror. Ben stood up in haste.

  Mesmo did not flinch. Before their very eyes, the water bulged out of the can until it formed a perfectly flat, elliptical shape, quite like a mirror, except that you could see through it. Ben and Laura stared with their mouths open.

  “How did you do that?” Laura asked in awe.

  “My skill is Water,” Mesmo said, as if that explained everything. “Come,” he said to Ben, motioning for him to sit behind the floating mirror. “Touch the water with the tips of your fingers,” Mesmo instructed. “It will not hurt.”

  Ben did as he was told, half expecting to be burnt, but all he felt was the cool liquid under his fingertips.

  “Close your eyes and go back as far as you can to the night of The Cosmic Fall,” Mesmo said. “Try to picture it in your mind.”

  Ben shifted uneasily, trying to remember something from before, but as usual everything from that time was a dark haze in his mind. Tike, with his tail wagging slowly, placed his paw on Ben’s leg. Immediately an image of a baby dog yapping excitedly appeared behind Ben’s eyelids. He heard his mother gasp. He snapped his eyes open to find the same image of a barking Tike emerging like a reflection on the water mirror, as though it was a strange TV screen reflecting his thoughts. The image wavered. Mesmo urged him to keep concentrating.

  Ben focused on baby Tike, remembering when Grampa had let him into his room one summer when he was six years old. It was a beautiful memory, one that made him smile, but then the image wavered as his grandfather’s face lingered in his mind. He opened his eyes again, noticing that his mother’s lips were pressed together. He shifted uneasily. Mesmo encouraged him to continue. But Ben could not get past that one memory, as it played over and over in his mind. He looked at Mesmo helplessly.

  Mesmo reached out to the transparent screen, touching it gently. It came to life at once.

  The alien man sat in an unusual vehicle with soft lights and smooth walls. Outside, everything was dark until the craft glided to the right. The Earth appeared, vast and majestic. He was following another identical craft with which he exchanged strange words. The soft, disciplined voice that came back belonged to a girl. They gently navigated their spacecraft ever closer to the Blue Planet. Then a sharp flash of light zoomed from behind them, almost hitting the first vessel.

  The girl’s voice came loudly, warningly. Mesmo exchanged urgent words with her as he steered the craft around to see from where the shot had come. No sooner had he done that, when two more shots were fired from a dark spacecraft behind them. One shot flew past, crashing into the American communication satellite, which exploded. The other hit Mesmo’s ship with full force, making it shudder as it spun out of control. Mesmo heard the girl call his name frantically as he sped towards the Earth. Everything went black until Mesmo recovered his senses. He saw city lights racing towards him. He tried to veer the spacecraft slightly to the right, only to face a dangerous slope he could not escape.

  On the watery screen, Ben and Laura watched as Grampa’s house whizzed by, the neon lights from the kitchen, Mr. Hayward’s house, the fields and the dark island of trees. Then they saw the explosion as Mesmo’s ship hit the ground.

  The screen became transparent again. Mesmo let out a gasp of breath as if he had been holding it the whole time. Ben and Laura stared at the alien, speechless.

  Ben shivered as Mesmo held his gaze. “Go on,” the alien urged.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The Cosmic Fall

  Reluctantly, Ben touched the liquid mirror again with a trembling hand. In his mind’s eye, he was immediately taken back to the field near his grandfather’s house.

  “There’s the Big Dipper,” Grampa said, making Ben jump.

  Ryan Archer squinted through the eyepiece of an old telescope, which was directed across the Chilliwack valley and its distant mountains. Grampa and Ben had placed the telescope on top of a blanket in the middle of a nearby field on this starlit August night. A warm breeze brought scents of corn and earth to their nostrils. Trees and shrubs bordered both sides of the field, though to their right they could glimpse the ugly neon light which Grampa had forgotten to switch off when they had set out on their stargazing expedition.

  “This was your mother’s once, you know?” Grampa said slowly, while he concentrated on getting the image focused. “I made it for her when she was little. Too bad it ended up forgotten in the attic after the lens broke. I’m so glad you found it again!”

  He stood up to stretch his back, then shook his head. “I can’t believe how easy it was to get a new lens delivered to my doorstep! Great job, kiddo!” He patted Ben on the back. “There’s a pretty smart brain hiding behind that potatohead of yours!” He chuckled, inviting Ben to check out the stars through the telescope. “I look forward to some more internet surfing classes on your next vacation, eh?”

  Ben stuffed the remainder of a biscuit in his mouth, then wiped his hand on his jeans before glancing through the eyepiece. Tike scampered around his feet, bumping into the legs of the telescope.

  “Tike!” Ben scolded, his mouth full. His dog kept running around them, barking excitedly.

  They followed the dog with their eyes, then noticed what had caught his attention. On the road at the end of the field behind them, Thomas Nombeko, the friendly town mailman, was cycling by on his way home. Thomas waved at them in the dark, shouting something they didn’t quite catch.

  “’Night, Thomas!” Grampa bellowed, waving back, as the cyclist disappeared into the night. Grampa frowned. “Strange…” he said half to himself. “There’s a light on in Mr. Hayward’s living room. I thought he was away on business?”

  “Grampa! What’s that?” Ben shouted, interrupting.

  Grampa straightened again, following Ben’s pointed finger.

  There was a brief, horizontal streak, way up in space, followed by an expanding light as if something had exploded. Then a long, white line descended towards the Earth. It kept falling for what seemed like a long time, its trajectory taking it straight to the lights of Chilliwack.

  “Whoa!” Ben gasped in wonder.

  But then the falling object did something it wasn’t supposed to do; it changed course! What had been a perfectly elliptical line across the black sky, became a soft 90-degree angle, so that without warning, the object was suddenly heading straight towards them.

  Shooting stars don’t change trajectory! What the heck is going on?

  Ben broke into a cold sweat. “Grampa?” his voice wavered.

  Grampa gripped the boy’s shoulder to pull him away. Instead, they found themselves frozen to the spot. There was nowhere to run, no time to think.

  They could hear the burning object whistling through the air as it raced towards them at frightening speed.

  “Grampa!” Ben screamed.

  Chaos descended upon them with a horrible, screeching noise that went on and on as the object fought its last battle with gravity. They were struck by a deafening explosion, a blinding light, a wave of heat. The ground heaved beneath them.

  Tike let out a death howl that pierced Ben’s heart. The boy barely registered hitting the ground; the air sucked out of his lungs. Ben and his grandfather lay in a heap, their bodies pelted by dirt bullets.

  A heavy silence followed.

  The boy carefully extracted his hand from Grampa’s tight grip. His brain was rattled. Grampa coughed up dust.

  The ball of fire had missed them, landing in the woods nearby. Flames flared behind the dark trees where the object had dragged itself to its terrible end.

  Boy and man helped each other stand. Ben found his legs were like jelly. He picked up a silent, shi
vering Tike in his arms.

  “Ben, are you all right?” Grampa asked. He scanned the boy from head to foot, then brushed off some of the dirt on the boy’s face.

  Ben stared at him with dazed eyes, then nodded slowly.

  An object at the edge of the patch of forest caught their eye. They walked towards it slowly, Ben clinging tightly to Grampa’s arm. A broken piece had been blown sky-high and had landed on the ground not far from them. It was about the size of a car door, and it had the smooth, silver colour of metal.

  “An airplane!” Ben breathed.

  That’s why it changed course in the middle of the sky!

  The poor pilot had managed to veer the ailing aircraft away from a direct crash with the town of Chilliwack in the hopes of finding a place to land. Instead, he had only found a wall of trees in his path.

  Grampa took Ben firmly by the arm, pulling him away. They both half-ran, half-trotted across the field in the direction of Grampa’s house. They ignored the blanket and telescope. They crossed through the few shrubs and trees separating the two fields and viewed Grampa’s house with relief. Ben didn’t think the neon kitchen lights could ever look so welcoming. He tugged at his grandfather to get going. Grampa held him back.

  “Listen to me very carefully, Benjamin,” he said sternly.

  Ben listened.

  You never call me Benjamin…

  “I have to go and help the people who crashed back there.”

  Ben’s mouth opened in a terrified objection.

  Grampa held up his hand.

  “Boy, time is crucial! I need you to run to the house, pick up the phone and dial 911. Tell the police a plane fell next to my house. We need the fire department and ambulances. Do you understand?”

  “No way, Grampa! You’re not going back there!” Ben gasped.

  “There’s no time to argue! Do it, now!” he ordered, his eyes ablaze.

  Grampa’s words worked like a trigger. A sense of extreme urgency propelled Ben forward. All he could think of were the people who had crashed in the plane.

  Ambulance! Fire department!

  The words repeated in his mind with each step. His shoes thumped on the dry ground. His eyes fixed on the kitchen light. It was beckoning him. The wide field stretched away from his small frame as he gasped for air. He had almost made it across when something horrifying happened; the lights inside the house went out!

  Ben froze. Darkness crashed around him. He could barely make out Grampa’s house, now a black, empty giant.

  No electricity, no phone…

  The realization struck Ben with full force. He picked up Tike in his arms for comfort. The dog shivered uncontrollably.

  Drat! Why doesn’t Grampa have a cellphone?

  The fire in the woods illuminated the sky behind him.

  If I hurry, I’ll catch up with Grampa.

  Ben knew he wasn’t thinking straight, but he needed to do something. He couldn’t just stand there. The boy bolted away from the house, back across the field, a stitch nagging at his side.

  Maybe I can help…

  He was too set on finding his grandfather to notice a small burst of light in the night sky, followed by an elliptical line streaking towards the Earth.

  Ben was sobbing by the time he reached the blanket and telescope in the middle of the second field. It was a comforting island at the centre of a danger zone. Yet, once there, it was still as cold and lonely, offering no protection. The tears made it impossible to search for Grampa. Everything was a blur.

  He sagged down onto the blanket, exhausted and frightened. He wiped away his tears and sniffled.

  Stop being a wuss! Grampa needs help.

  Feeling ashamed, he blinked several times to clear his eyesight and paid more attention to the wall of dark trees. He took a deep breath, picked up his dog again, then left the blanket and telescope on stiff legs. His whole body ached. The air felt cold and humid, in spite of the crackling fire coming from within the woods.

  Ben was nearly to the edge of the trees when he heard the familiar whistling in the air and caught sight of the fireball out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face it, though he might as well have been a lonely tree about to be swallowed by a tornado. The fiery bullet was already almost on top of him. He barely had time to shut his eyes and brace himself for the impact.

  For a second time that night, there was a deafening crash. Ben was knocked to the ground. A heat wave followed, then a grinding hiss that came nearer and nearer. Chunks of earth and metal whizzed by, narrowly missing him. He covered his head with his arms to protect himself and Tike. Heat from the object warmed Ben’s face as it came to a stop right before him.

  When he opened his eyes, the field was an unrecognizable war zone. Huge, twisted pieces of metal surrounded him, burning. A long, fiery runway indicated the distance the object had travelled since its impact. And before him was the craft, or rather what remained of it, for it was almost entirely buried in the ground.

  Ben stayed rooted to the spot; his voice stuck in his throat.

  The flames licked quietly at the wreckage, minding their own business. Ben stood there, shaking like a leaf before the billowing black smoke. He didn’t think the smooth wreckage that jutted out of the ground looked like an airplane at all, though he noticed that there was a hole near the front, indicating it was hollow. Carefully, he took a few steps closer to the opening and glanced inside. He came face to face with a girl. Her big eyes bored into him from deep inside the wreckage. They both froze and stared at each other fearfully.

  She had a pale, delicate face and long, white hair. He noticed her eyes were a deep honey-brown before she shut them tightly. She was like a delicate fawn in great pain. Ben knelt on the ground and bent over the opening in the wreckage so he could get a better look. It was dark inside, but the nearby firelight illuminated the girl’s face. The rest of her body was stuck under debris.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked shakily.

  It took a while for her to open her eyes again. When she did, they reflected an immense weariness. Her skin had turned slightly gray.

  Ben reached out a hand to her, feeling an urgent need to help. She stared at it suspiciously, showing no intention of taking it. Ben frowned, then suddenly realized his hand was bleeding. He wiped it hastily on his trouser leg, before holding it out to her again. She stared back at his hand, hesitant. At that moment Tike peeked over the edge. As soon as she saw the dog, her expression softened. She turned her face away and he heard her gasp in pain. She looked at him again, with determination this time, as she extended her pale hand to him.

  Ben was puzzled to see her palm was bleeding, too. But before he could say anything, her hand clamped onto his, and instead of bracing herself to get pulled out, she mumbled some unintelligible words while staring at him with an intensity so frightening Ben’s heart almost stopped. He tried to pull away, but she had him in an iron grasp. Their eyes locked, their blood smears mingled, and a sudden, powerful surge of energy flowed into Ben’s body. He thought he was being hit by another explosion, except this one came from within. His mind was bombarded with a myriad of sensations as if every stem cell in his brain had been activated.

  Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over, and she let him go. Ben’s arm hung limply over the side of the craft, as he stared down at her in shock. His whole body tingled. Slowly he retrieved his numb arm and found his hand balled into a tight fist. He carefully unwound the fingers of his hand, only to discover a tiny, sparkling gem in its centre.

  The diamond in the watch!

  Another part of his mind nudged at him, but all he could think of was the girl who gazed at him with a worried look on her face. There was a brief silence as if an electrical storm passed between them. She let herself sink back into the wreckage, her face becoming a deeper gray, her eyes reflecting an inner peace.

  “Mesmo,” she murmured.

  He thought he saw her smile before she closed her eyes.

  “No!” Ben shouted,
reaching for her as her body slipped out of reach.

  Ben’s eyes fluttered open. He was back on the beach, sitting before the fire, surrounded by Laura and Mesmo. Before him, the liquid screen had lost its consistency and had splashed to the ground. The embers sizzled. A wind had picked up, while a couple of raindrops fell unnoticed onto the thick sand.

  Mesmo breathed heavily, his hand still raised as if he had not yet realized that the watery mirror had disappeared. Ben stared at him with wide eyes.

  Laura was the first to come out of her trance. She approached Ben on her knees, taking her son in her arms. “Now I know,” she said softly, hugging him.

  He squeezed her back, feeling tired and empty, yet also strangely lightheaded, for a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Something that had burdened him had suddenly been extracted and was no longer only his to carry. He felt strangely relieved.

  Mesmo stood and walked to the edge of the water. Tiny waves lapped the shore peacefully, though raindrops fell more insistently.

  Ben let go of his mother, and walked over to Mesmo.

  After staring out at the dark waters for a long, silent moment, Mesmo gazed down at Ben quizzically. In a startled voice, he said, “She gave you her skill!”

  “What do you mean?” Ben asked as rain splattered down his face.

  Mesmo ignored him. He spoke into the night with a broken voice, “Then my daughter truly is dead…”

  Laura came up behind them and gently led Ben away from Mesmo, as the alien continued to stare, motionless, at the black sea. “That’s enough for now,” she said softly when Ben wanted to object.

  Reluctantly, he followed her, sneezing hard. They collected the blankets and empty cans before heading up the steep slope next to the lighthouse. By the time they reached the car, they were worn out. Laura switched on the car heater for a while as they snuggled up as best they could in the car seats, Laura in front and Ben at the back, then covered themselves with their damp jackets. Ben barely recollected his mother switching off the car before he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.