Chapter 4
The STONIAN shuttle traveled deep into the outermost parts of the galaxy that no human being had ever reached. There was nothing to stimulate the eyes and mind as I looked out of the spacecraft. Only a vast expanse of calm blackness was in sight from the seat inside the space shuttle. My thoughts kept me company next to this person that I had known; or I had thought I had known, for a year. It was like Star Wars; the popular sci-fi flick and my favorite movie of all time, without the excitement and interesting characters.
“Miles, does your spaceship have a name, I mean, there was the Millennium Falcon and the USS Starship Enterprise. What do you call your spaceship?”
Miles didn’t seem to be interested in the question but responded, “We don’t call our vehicles anything.”
This was a little disappointing and I was biting my lip to find something to talk about but then Miles continued, “Think about it this way, earthlings don’t usually attach personal names to their cars. Maybe some do. This is really just a car to me though and actually, I was thinking about trading it in for a newer model when I get back home.”
“A newer model,” I asked astonished?
“Yeah, the new ones travel an additional speed of 100 KECTOPARCHELS. Sure could have used that on this trip but this transporter is still faster than most.”
“So what will you do with this spaceship or rather; you called it a transporter, when you’ve traded it in?”
“The dealers will either junk it, sell it for scrap or someone from CLEVIA will buy it, hoping to get a few more years out of it. I don’t know if that will be possible as it’s on its last leg as the human expression goes.”
I adjusted in my seat at this expression; thinking, I’m traveling in a spaceship, a billion miles from safety and the only thing keeping me from sure death is on its last leg.
Miles continued, “And a long leg it is, we are not quite halfway there.”
When I first glanced at the craft on top of the Sorenson & Lankford building, its appearance seemed sleek and well; new. After talking to Miles though, I strangely began to notice some warts on the ships control panels. Blackened spots near switches suggested that an electrical fire had occurred at some point and the seat I was on had a few rips in it; thus, exposing a purplish material. It was still the most comfortable chair I‘d ever sat in though.
Then I took notice of the metal buckle which appeared to be the same material the ship was made out of. It was beautiful to look at and I could not ever remember a time I’ve paid so much attention to or gave as much admiration for an object like this buckle. Its appearance had a calming effect to it; like looking into a lake under a sunrise and suddenly the thought I had earlier about this dangerous trek didn’t seem to bother me. A placid feeling came over me. The metal seemed to have taken on a life of its own.
I contemplated whether the alien sitting next to me appreciated the metal the way I was beginning to. My eyes shifted back to Miles.
“Miles, you were saying earlier that there are twelve planets, some major and others minor. What did you mean by that?”
“There are four major planets in the LOMMETRUS GALAXY: STONIA; which happens to be the planet I’m from, ALVERON; a planet that inhabits most of the galaxy’s scientific minds, VECILOI; our political hub and EPHIA; producer of our most precious resource.”
This sparked some curiosity so I asked Miles, “What is your galaxy’s most precious resource?”
Miles responded, “The metal you have been so enamored with---it is from EPHIA. It’s the life blood to all our technology.”
“Wait, a little while ago you said that this ship of yours would be junked when you got back.”
Miles grinned, “Everything but the metal of course.”
I nodded and Miles continued, “The metal is called GLYSTIN and runs like water through the EPHIA planet. It goes through a long process called FLASHCIN that hardens GLYSTIN which then allows workers to fashion the metal into whatever they desire.”
I was fascinated by this and questioned miles further on the metal. I listened to Miles as he explained the FLASHCIN process in more detail.
Then Miles began to talk about his planet; adding, the beauty of it was unimaginable to someone from Earth. I imagined it to be a cold, hard place after hearing its name for the first time but to hear Miles explain it, his planet sounded like a huge vacation spot in the Bahamas. It had plenty of salt water and sandy beaches that stretched across the entire planet.
“As a human; you might appreciate that the weather is a constant temperature of 80 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night.”
It was sounding too good to be true. I was beginning to look forward to my visit to STONIA. Maybe this trouble I was in had some perks to it. Miles then talked about why these planets were considered major ones out of the twelve.
“You see, these planets give life to the other eight. STONIA, ALVERON, VECILOI and EPHIA are the light in LOMMETRUS. The minor planets include WOCO, NOBI, CLEVIA, RIMEAUS, ODEPHIS, OCKTORON, NACINN and WEGOAN. They are merely worker planets and produce nothing but uneducated workers, some skilled labor and criminals like the ones chasing you.”
I interrupted Miles at this, “But could it be said that without these workers from the minor planets the major planets would not be able to produce its machines and gadgets needed for advancement? Could they be considered important to the LOMMETRUS?”
Miles seemed to ponder this question as if he never thought of it that way before and spoke, “I guess you could look at it that way.”
Miles may have only said this to appease me and move the conversation forward. I began to wonder if I’d have a chance to visit those other planets. Minor or not, how many times in my life will I make it out this far in space. This forced a smile on my face that I’m not sure Miles noticed.
Sonya and Stacy approached the city park. Joggers and dog walkers sparsely filled the area as they pulled in to park. They both got out of the car and Stacy pointed over by the bridge that led to a trail. “Over there,” Stacy said and with this we started walking. Sonya wondered if this was going to be some kind of hostage situation that she would have to negotiate William out of. It’s not likely but the cryptic information Stacy gave didn’t leave her much to guess at.
“Another quarter mile or so and we’ll be there,” Stacy added as they crossed the bridge.
“Where exactly are we going Stacy?”
This question was ignored as she began to walk at a faster pace than Sonya toward whatever laid ahead. The trail the two women took seemed to be tousled and densely surrounded by grass and brush from dead trees. The dirt path was hardly noticeable without purposely looking toward the ground and navigating through the forgotten path.
These natural obstacles didn’t seem to affect Stacy’s pace as she was nearly out of Sonya’s sight when they got a little ways into the trail.
Sonya called out, “Stacy, I can’t see you. Wait up!”
Sonya then began to hear the breaking of twigs in front of her as Sonya quickened her pace to catch Stacy.
“Wait up Stacy…I hear something coming.”
Then an eerie silence surrounded Sonya. Not even the chirping of singing birds from earlier could be heard. She stood there a moment to listen but nothing alerted her of anyone else on that trail. Sonya’s sixth sense began to alert her that the decision to follow Stacy in the woods might have put her in danger. Sonya started to walk back to the car when she heard something approach. Twigs were snapping and the sound that resembled an army of marching footsteps approached her. The forest appeared to move before her eyes. Sonya couldn’t understand what was happening. The outline of an image could be identified but it was not something Sonya had ever seen before so she could not quite make it out. The massive object stopped moving toward her and a voice came from that direction. It was Stacy’s.
“Sonya, over here; I have something I want to show you.”
Cautious but s
till curious, Sonya began to walk toward the strange image. As she approached the object, it was clear to Sonya that it had reflective outer material that seemed to camouflage whatever it was. With this discovery, Sonya could make out what was in front of her. Then Sonya’s hand instinctively smoothed over the image. It appeared to be some kind of vehicle. In fact, it looked like a saucer of sorts but Sonya still wasn’t sure. The body of the vehicle was as large as a cement truck but was round. Sonya walked behind it with a look of astonishment. It then opened up in the middle, revealing its inside components and a mess of blond hair sitting in one of the two seats.
Stacy turned around and looked at Sonya with a stone gaze then asked, “What do think?”
Sonya completed her circle around the vehicle until she stood in front of Stacy and asked, “What is this?”
This got a laugh out of Stacy. Sonya hadn’t heard Stacy laugh before and it was probably something she didn’t ever want to hear again. It was shrill, continuous and irritating.
“What is so funny?”
“It’s nothing,” Stacy said through her laughter.
“Well, it is something,” Sonya snapped back.
Sonya began to get angry and this only made Stacy laugh with more enthusiasm.
“Listen…”
Sonya stopped herself before a nasty insult came out.
“Just forget it. Whatever it is---I’m leaving. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
At this, Sonya started to walk away and then the laughter stopped.
A desperate tone from Stacy developed; “wait Sonya.”
Stacy then got out and began walking after her. Stacy caught up with Sonya and said, “I’m sorry, truly, I should not laugh. You have shown a lot of trust in me to come this far but please, don’t go.”
“Why shouldn’t I leave,” Sonya asked in an irritated tone. “You have given me nothing to understand--- what is happening here? Who are you, really?”
Stacy sighed and said, “OK Sonya, here it goes. I am a pilot for the ALVERON government in the LOMMETRUS GALAXY and I was supposed to intercept a NOBIAN criminal before he took William. I was unable to identify this NOBIAN until few days ago. I should have moved quicker but I thought there would be enough time.”
Sonya added, “Your date with William was really just your opportunity for eventually protecting him from this NOBIAN alien?”
“Yes,” Stacy nodded. “I was going to try and tell William everything. Now it is too late; he has already left and my mission has failed as he took William Baxter with him back to LOMMETRUS. Look, I was laughing for several reasons. One, I thought you’d have figured some of this out already, at least the part about me being alien. I was actually hoping you’d put some of it together because secondly; I didn’t know a good way to tell you this. I kept thinking about it from your perspective and thought how ridiculous it would sound. I thought if I just showed you my ship that maybe I could convince you to believe me.”
Sonya had some suspicion about Stacy but this was obviously not it. The ship was definitely a needed touch to get Sonya’s attention. Sonya walked to the front of the ship past Stacy but kept her gaze firmly planted on the alien. Then Sonya turned her stare toward the ship to study it. This spaceship was not like anything she’d seen before. It could be top secret military but how did this strange girl get a hold of it? Then a thought crept in her mind that scared her. What if Stacy was telling the truth? Could she be standing next to a life form from another planet? Sonya’s eyes went back to Stacy whose eyes were fixed on Sonya.
“Look, I’m going to be up front with you as I can see there is no other way. The NOBIAN criminals are looking to devise a weapon that would destroy life in the LOMMETRUS. If you ever want to see William again, I need you to come with me to bring him back. Sonya, the people that took William will use extreme measures on him and just make it difficult for him to see reality. William brings the potential of human viruses to my galaxy that we are not prepared to fight. Now, we could destroy him if given a chance but my planet’s leadership thought someone from Earth could convince William to come back to his planet. William would listen to you. He respects and trusts you.”
“How…I mean…what could I say?”
Stacy countered, “Look Sonya, you are great at negotiating deals. You’ll think of something.”
“Why William though?”
Stacy pondered this question for a moment.
“Maybe they found something in William that was genetically unique and vital to their weapon. I really don’t know.”
This whole story was taking on a new life for Sonya. This morning she could not have guessed that this is the trouble Baxter was in. She’d grown a fondness and respect for William this past year in the office as he reminded her of Devon. With the thought of Devon, the divorce from Stephen and now this; suddenly, for the first time in Sonya Meyers’ life, she felt overwhelmed. Her eyes began to tear up. Sonya turned quickly from Stacy at this to regain control but she couldn’t. The tears kept coming and she found herself sobbing like she never had before. This was all too much for her at that moment and she didn’t know what to do.
“Ok…I’ll go with you,” Sonya said wiping tears.
“Are you sure? I mean, this is a dangerous mission I’ve presented to you. We may not make it back.”
Sonya paused at this for only a few seconds and spoke, “I’m the only person that can get William back. It is up to me to do this.”
Sonya looked at the ship, “I’ve never rode in a spaceship before,” Sonya said this with a grin and a wink as Stacy who seemed to understand the meaning behind it. “This is so crazy but I’m actually going to do it.”
Stacy smiled, “Do you want to take the Maserati back to your place before we leave?”
Sonya bit her lip and looked at the trail; toward the general direction of the concealed parking lot. “If we wait any longer, I might change my mind. Let’s just go.”
Sonya climbed into the seat next to the one Stacy had been sitting in. She immediately noticed how comfortable the chair was as she sunk into it. Then something caught her eye as she instinctively grabbed for the buckle. The belt buckle was similar to the strange metal that resembled the device Stacy had pulled out for tracking her. The sunlight peaked through the middle opening of the space craft and hit the metal for a few moments. The illuminated cabin felt safe to Sonya. A cloud then covered the rays and Sonya felt rejuvenated like she had never before.
Stacy noticed this and said, “The metal; which is called GLYSTIN, is the life blood of LOMMETRUS. The ship’s body and some of the components in the cabin are in fact, made out of GLYSTIN.”
Sonya shook her head to acknowledge this, buckled herself into the seat and stared forward; waiting for the alien pilot to join her.
Stacy asked, “Sonya is there anyone you wish to call; family or friends, someone that you need to hear from before we leave?”
Sonya’s dark eyes connected with Stacy’s, “No, I’m ready, let’s just leave.”
Stacy climbed into the pilots seat of the space ship, went through her pre-flight routine and within minutes, the two were in outer space, distancing themselves from the human’s planet.
The LOMMETRUS Chronicles: Book One: The Abduction of William Baxter Page 4