Colliding Skies

by Debbie Zaken

  After a stifling week, the military curfew allowed everyone to go back to work and school. I pulled into the school parking lot on Monday morning, the first day of normalcy. Students rushed to class with their backpacks and books. Armed soldiers stood at the entrance, and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles charged down the street like a stampede of giant, green rhinos. Normalcy was definitely no longer normal.

  I had just shut the car door when I turned to see Taylor standing next to me. “Morning,” he said, a wide grin on his lips. There was something so relaxed about him. It gave him an air of confidence way above his eighteen years. The nerves in my stomach rocketed at the sight of him. “Hey.” I managed a shy smile.

  “Mind if I walk you to class?” He slung my backpack over his shoulder and planted a light kiss on my cheek. “There’s someone else waiting for you. She generously allowed me to be the first to greet you today, but I was warned that if I didn’t have you inside within five minutes she would scratch the paint off my car. And something tells me she actually would.”

  I laughed as we walked hand in hand into school. “I see you’re getting to know Emily.” Emily Breuer, my best friend since second grade, had a fiery personality that matched her flaming hair. Or, as she liked to call it, chutzpah. And now that Taylor and I were finally a thing, she felt no need to hold back with him.

  “He needs to know we’re a package deal,” she’d said, when I’d called to tell her about our first date. “Besties before testes. Always.”

  She’d even offered to put that lovely slogan on matching t-shirts for us. Needless to say, I turned that offer down.

  Emily stood by my locker, twirling a strand of red hair between her fingers—a nervous habit she’d had since I could remember. I grinned. Oh, how I’d missed my over-the-top best friend.

  She caught sight of me, slammed the yellow door of her locker shut and ran to give me a big hug. “Skye, oh, my God! I can’t remember the last time we went a whole week without seeing each other.”

  “I know. I missed you, too.” I hugged her back.

  She turned to Taylor. “Didn’t I tell you to have her here by seven-thirty? Did they not teach you how to tell time at that Waspy, boarding school of yours?”

  Taylor gave a throaty chuckle and rubbed his forehead. “Oh man, Emily. You’re a trip.” He shook his head. “It took a little longer than I thought. She was a bit distracted this morning.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can only imagine what that the distraction was.”

  “Emily.” I arched an eyebrow at her.

  “Oh fine, I’ll be nice. Thank you, Taylor, for making sure I get to see her too. ”

  “Anytime.”

  We walked down the hall and it only took two seconds for Emily to go into fangirl mode. “Did you see the aliens have a profile now?” She shoved her phone in my face. On the screen was a picture of Abigail, the Celeian spokesperson, on some social networking site.

  “I doubt that’s really her,” I said. “Probably just another bogus account. There are like five hundred of those floating around in cyberspace.”

  Taylor snickered. “Seriously, Emily. Intelligent alien life lands on Earth and you think they’re going to waste their time posting selfies and dumb videos of cats? But I’ll tell you what is real. This.” He pulled out his own phone from his pocket, his fingers scrolling on the screen and pulling up a news video I’d seen about a dozen times by now. Thousands of rioters on the streets of London, Mexico, Japan. Holy sites like the Vatican, Mecca, Jerusalem, flooded with pilgrims. And then a more familiar setting appeared: the church not too far from Emily’s house going up in flames, and looters running out of the local Walmart with huge boxes of televisions, and carts full of expensive phones and tablets. Images from those first few days post-contact.

  Emily flicked her hair back with one hand. “Thank you, Mr. CNN. We get it. We’ve all seen the news. That was like a week ago.”

  Things had settled down in the last couple of days, mainly because of Abigail’s constant appearance in the media, reassuring us of the Celeians’ friendly intentions. The declaration of peace she’d signed in front of about twenty world leaders had probably helped too.

  “What I want to know,” Emily went on, “is what they don’t put on the news. Skye, you’ve got to know something. What are they like? Has your dad dropped any info at all?”

  Emily had been nudging me for details all week. Dad was now part of a special task force of engineers working with the aliens, so I had become her source on all things Celeian—her extragalactic TMZ of sorts. Unfortunately, Dad wasn’t very forthcoming.

  “Em, believe me I’ve tried. But you know my dad. He never talks about work. I swear I don’t know any more than you do.”

  Like the rest of the world, the only information I had was from the limited news reports. Social media hype rumored that about ten Celeians had arrived—males and females, each one as different and unique as humans, and all celestially beautiful. But only a few people, like Dad, had really seen them. Abigail was the only one who appeared in the media.

  “Come on, Skye. He’s got to have said something. Are they all really that hot?” she persisted in true Emily fashion.

  I shrugged. “He said they all have like a radiance about them or something. I don’t know. It’s not like I’ve seen any of them in person.”

  “And let’s hope it stays that way,” Taylor broke in.

  “Actually, my dad was invited to a State Dinner at the White House on Saturday night and he said my mom, Chase and I could go.”

  “Shut. Up.” Emily exclaimed.

  “What?” Taylor blurted out at the same time.

  “Why didn’t you tell me before?” Emily’s eyes bulged like two giant, green gumballs. “You have to go.”

  “He just told us this morning. I guess they want to invite the families too.”

  Taylor’s face crumpled in a look of repulsion. “Yeah, to feed on them. Women and children make easier prey.”

  “Oh please, Manning. I think someone’s been watching too many sci-fi movies. I’m sure it’s fine if Skye’s dad suggested it. And what kind of sexist remark is that? Females are easier pray?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Emily, stop.” I shot her a pleading look.

  “I didn’t mean…” Taylor trailed off, pressing his lips tight. An uncomfortable silence followed us to Emily’s class. Once Emily had gone inside and we were alone again, he turned to face me. “You’re not really thinking about going, are you?”

  “Why not? I mean sure, meeting the President to you is no big deal. Your dad probably gets invited to these things every other week. Isn’t he going?”

  “I’m sure he is. But for the record, I’ve never met the President either.”

  “So, then couldn’t we go together?”

  At that he let out a short, brittle laugh. “If he wants my mother to go, she’ll go. Me, on the other hand, he avoids being seen with in public. But that’s beside the point. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you or your family to be there.”

  I arched a curious brow. “Wait. Has you dad said anything?”

  A muscle in his jaw twitched. “No, I just have a bad feeling about it. That’s all.”

  “I think you’re overreacting.”

  We stood in the middle of the hallway, students rushing to the left and right of us trying to get to class. The bell rang.

  “Let’s talk about it at lunch.” He gave me a hurried kiss on the top of my head and walked to class.

  All day, the only thing people wanted to talk about was the beautiful extraterrestrials. No matter how hard the teachers tried sticking to the subject matter, every other question asked by a student somehow ended up being related to the Celeians. By lunchtime, it was all anyone could talk about.

  “I bet they all have like superpowers,” Emily said, taking a fork to her salad. “You know, they’re all faster than the speed of light and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
.”

  “Isn’t that from Superman?” Lucas Cunha, Emily’s ex-boyfriend, asked. He often sat with us for lunch. Despite some of the post break-up drama, they were still friends—or friends who still had a thing for each other.

  “Yeah, he was an alien,” Emily answered. “He came from Krypton.”

  “Huh. Then why was he allergic to Kryptonite? How could he be allergic to his home planet?”

  She shook her head and gave Lucas a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Oh, sweetie. You’re so pretty.” According to my eloquent best friend, Lucas was as hot as the Brazilian summers he came from, but as dense as the rain forest that covered it. But that’s not the real reason she broke up with him. Apparently, she was sparing her mother from an early grave. A gentile best friend was one thing; a Roman Catholic boyfriend was like a stake through her mother’s Jewish heart.

  “That doesn’t seem fair to me. Not only are they crazy beautiful, they also get to have special powers?” Julia Berhman said. The short brunette normally sat with her best friend, but since she was absent today, Julia had tagged along with me to lunch after our environmental class.

  “Special powers or not, that Abigail chick is no Chewbacca.” Lucas let out a low whistle. “Hot.”

  Lucas’ chuckle was cut off and replaced by a nervous silence, the same thick silence that had spread throughout the lunch room.

  Two green-uniformed soldiers, a lanky African American man and a stout, blonde woman, had entered the lunchroom. The soldiers looked young, only a few years out of high school, but the heavy shotguns hanging from their shoulders looked serious. Very serious. Principal Haze had told us that morning that soldiers would be patrolling the school all week to ensure our safety. Just a precaution, she’d said. Still, the two soldiers standing by the lunchroom doors with semi-automatic weapons in hand were a heck of a wake-up call.

  “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Taylor, who’d been unusually quiet until then, mumbled under his breath.

  In all my years of school, I’d never seen the lunchroom this quiet. No one talked; everyone just stared at the faces of the deadpan soldiers. Students walking back to their tables with trays of food in hand came to a freezing stop.

  “Okay, everyone.” Mr. Raman, the assistant principal, gave that double-clap teachers use to get everyone’s attention. “Nothing to worry about. Just security procedure. Go back to normal.”

  After another few seconds of blank stares, the silence broke and the normal, loud clatter of students eating, talking, and laughing returned to the lunchroom.

  “The whole thing is pretty darn freaky,” Lucas whispered. “I bet you these aliens want to eat our brains or turn us into zombies.”

  Taylor shot Lucas a curious look, but said nothing.

  “That’s little far-fetched,” Emily replied.

  Lucas’ dark brows became one. “Are you serious? Because having a whole army unit patrolling the school is totally normal. I think we left far-fetched behind like a week ago.”

  “I don’t know,” Julia said, taking a bite of her pizza. “I agree with Emily. I mean, if they want to kill us, why didn’t they do it from the start instead of bothering with press conferences and declarations?”

  “Infiltrate quietly. Befriend the enemy. Gain trust to attack in surprise,” Taylor muttered. Then he noticed their dumbstruck gazes on him. “What? The Art of War? Ancient China? It’s classic literature.”

  Emily cleared her throat. “Uh, okay. Well, they said they come in peace. So far, they’ve stayed true to their word. I saw on the news they’re talking about developing a cure for cancer and erasing the effects of global warming. Skye,” she blurted out, putting her hand on my arm in excitement. “You can tell us all about them after you meet them.”

  “You’re going to meet them?” Julia’s eyes bugged out.

  “Yeah, she’s going to some gala at the White House. She can tell us what they’re like.”

  I was starting to feel uncomfortable by the amazed stares from Lucas and Julia. “Well, yeah. My dad was invited to this thing and he said we could go too.”

  “Wow. I don’t know if that’s frightening or damn cool,” Lucas said.

  “I’d say it’s pretty awesome,” Julia replied, still staring at me with wide eyes.

  But what wasn’t awesome was Taylor’s silence. The way he avoided eye contact with me, glaring at his empty soda can and turning it left and right, made the turkey sandwich in my stomach feel like a block of cement.

  “Hey, um, you think it’d be okay with your parents if I come over after school today?” Taylor whispered, speaking to me for the first time since we sat down for lunch.

  The cement block in my stomach started to dissipate. “Yeah, sure. But I’m warning you, my mom’s probably going to want you to stay for dinner.”

  He smiled—the first real smile since this morning in the parking lot. “I’ll meet you there, after you pick up Chase.”

  ***

  BY THE TIME I got home with Chase, Taylor’s car was already in the driveway.

  “So you’re the boyfriend,” Chase said to Taylor. “Is that your car?” He asked his eyes as big as tire rims as he admired the blue BMW.

  Taylor nodded.

  “Convertible, right?”

  “Yeah.” An amused grin crossed Taylor’s face. “It’s nothing special. Just a car.”

  “Well, it’s a sweet ride.” Chase dropped his backpack in the foyer with a thud. “It’s been real, but I’m going to play video games now.”

  “Uh, don’t you have homework to do?” I raised an eyebrow in question.

  Chase gave me a lopsided grin. “Yeah, Mom. I’ll get it done before real Mom gets home.” With that, he turned and made his way up the stairs.

  I folded my arms over my chest and followed him with my eyes. “Smart-ass.” We played this game a lot. I was always the responsible one, the older sister who dared not get in trouble, and took care of him. He was the smart-alecky little brother who could charm his way out of murder. “Must be fun not to have sisters or brothers,” I said to Taylor. “He used to be cute. Now he’s just a bratty tween with an attitude.”

  Taylor’s lips twitched. “Yeah, I can see who the troublemaker in the family is. But I kind of always wanted a little brother.”

  “Yeah? How about I let you borrow him for a couple of hours and then we talk?”

  Taylor shook his head and drew me into his arms. “I’d much rather borrow you, if you don’t mind.”

  I smiled up at him. “Oh, I don't think I'd mind too much.”

  He placed a kiss on my lips.

  “Come on.” I broke away, tugged on his arm and pulled him into the kitchen. “I promised my mom I’d get dinner started.”

  I popped the lasagna into the oven while he helped with the salad. He was almost done slicing the peppers when he asked, “Skye, has your father mentioned anything troublesome about these aliens?”

  I turned my head away from the pan of vegetables I was stirring and glanced at him. A look of calm detachment clung to his face. But the tightness around his eyes told me what this was about. He was still worried about the State Dinner.

  That’s why he wanted to come over.

  “Not really,” I said. “He doesn’t talk about them much. He’s only answered a few of the questions we’ve asked, and even then he doesn’t go into much detail. That’s kind of the way it’s always been with his job. Not even extraterrestrials landing on Earth changed that.”

  “But he thinks it’s all right for you to meet them?”

  I put down the wooden spoon and turned away from the stove to face him. “Taylor, he wouldn’t do anything that would put us in danger. Don’t tell me you really believe they’re going to eat our brains or turn us into zombies?”

  “No. But I’m not so convinced their motives are purely altruistic either.” He picked up a tomato and concentrated on slicing it.

  “Well, what does your dad say? I’m sure he knows more than mine.”

&n
bsp; His face tensed. The ripe vine tomatoes he was so effectively dicing were starting to look like the salsa they served at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Not exactly right for the garden salad I had in mind. “My father and I talk to each other only when we have to.”

  I had a feeling Taylor knew more than he was letting on. I turned back to the pan and stirred the sizzling slices of zucchini and yellow squash. “So if you don’t know any more than I do, why are you so against me going?”

  His silence confirmed my suspicion.

  “Well?” I glanced at him and went back to my innocent stirring of vegetables.

  He let out a sigh. “I’ve managed to hear bits and pieces. The verdict is still out. The President and some others in the Administration think these aliens are the Messiahs they claim to be. Others, like my father, are more skeptical.”

  I moved the pan to the side, turned off the burner and faced him. “Of course people are conflicted. They come from another galaxy. That still doesn’t mean they’re the body-snatching aliens from movies. Taylor, our fathers have both been in contact with them every day.”

  “Maybe, but look at the power they have. The blonde one—she hypnotized an entire city. If they can do that, think of what else they could do.”

  The Big Blackout, as it was called.

  What if they all have powers like that?

  “You know, I’ve been thinking about that day,” I said. “If they’re so technologically advanced, then their weapons are too, right? They could’ve easily attacked us or defended themselves. But they didn’t. So maybe they really do want to help us.”

  “And maybe that’s exactly what they want us to think.” He grabbed another tomato from the counter and began squashing it into more salsa.

  “Okay, no more tomatoes for you.” I took the cutting board and knife and put them in the sink. Then I threw him a kitchen towel to dry his hands.