Jake was also bouncing around. “Imagine if someone from earth could see us through a telescope. It would blow their freaking minds man!”
Randy was shaking his head and then laughed. “I never thought that joining The Saucer Club would let me walk again and get me on the moon.”
Johnny turned and at first he was speechless and then he cursed. “The saucer's gone!”
Michael started to shake from fright. “Oh my god we're stuck on the moon!”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
JOHN AND STELLA WATCHED OFFICER GREEN as he got into his car and drove off. It wasn't what he had said but how he had said it. He had no new information on Randy's whereabouts but he had been disturbed about something. Police officers were confident creatures but not this time. He had had the strangest look on his face almost as if he had just seen a ghost. He said the search was ongoing but the timber in his voice sounded as if he had no hope of finding them. It had been a strange conversation. There was obviously something that he wasn't telling them. Stella thought that Officer Green had been visibly shaken.
Stella shook her head. “There's something he's not telling us.”
John nodded. “That is the strangest conversation I've ever had with anyone. Maybe he had just come from the scene of an accident or something?”
Stella shook her head. “Maybe. He looked confused. The police always want to appear like they are in control of any situation but Officer Green seemed, I don't know I can't put my finger on it.”
John sighed. “He looked frightened to me.”
Stella wiped away a tear. “He couldn't even look me in the eye. If they found his body they'd have to tell us, wouldn't they?”
“Don't talk like that. I'm sure he'll be home soon. I dreamt he was home so hopefully that's a good sign.”
Chapter Fourty
RANDY SAT IN THE POWDERY LUNAR SOIL looking dejected. He should be deliriously happy because he could walk again but being abandoned on the moon had squashed that. He had gone from one sad reality to a nightmare. He stared at Sam through teary blue eyes. They should be having fun bouncing around on the moon but the situation was just too frightening. The disk had deserted them and they didn't know if it would return or not. They were facing a situation that no one had ever faced.
“It's gonna come back,” said Sam.
“How do you know?” Michael asked.
Sam thought about it. “Well, we still have our bubbles so we can breathe. The bubbles have to be getting their power from the ship. We have to be getting the oxygen from the saucer so it couldn't have gone too far. We can't see over the crater wall so it could be just over there. It'll be back you'll see.”
“And if it doesn't come back?” said Johnny.
Sam shrugged. “Then we'll go down in history as the first dead bodies on the moon.”
Jake laughed. “Yeah, we'll be a mystery that they'll never figure out. They'll be asking how the hell we got up here.” He stared down at his footprints. “I bet our bodies wouldn't even decompose up here. Just before I croak I'm gonna make a funny face and it'll be stuck on me forever.” He distorted his face and made them all laugh.
Randy belched. “You know what, I'm still full. If it's still feeding us it is coming back for sure. Think about it. Why would it bother feeding us if it's just gonna let us die here?”
Sam thought about it. “Makes sense to me.”
Everyone nodded because it did seem to be a reasonable conclusion. Jake wished that they could communicate with the saucer in simple English so that they would know exactly what is was up to; it would be no fun to end up on its home planet a million light years away, surrounded by aliens so ugly that they would all faint.
Randy got up and started to bounce-walk around. “If I'm gonna die up here I'm gonna have fun first.” He tripped and went right inside of Jake's bubble and there was a degree of comfort involved in being able to touch him.
Sam didn't like the look of that. “You guys need to be careful. There's no atmosphere up here so if you pop your bubble your dead.”
Jake walked away from Randy's bubble and it was a relief when his own followed him.
“It would have been so cool if we would have landed where Neil Armstrong landed,” said Johnny. “We could have seen his footprints!”
Sam imagined it. “Yeah, but then all our footprints would be there too. And we might mess up his. I bet one day people will visit that site just like they visit a museum. They'll have bases up here and maybe even a city.”
“What?” said Randy.
“I didn't say anything,” everyone responded simultaneously.
The saucer hovered over the dark side of the moon from several miles up, looking down upon a battered surface with lots of crater impacts. It sent out white circles of light which hit the surface and bounced back to it. A sphere exited the ship and scanned five different areas before it touched down inside a crater and spent the next hour digging down into the lunar soil.
The glowing sphere came out of the soil and went back up into the ship. In less than a minute it returned to the surface but now it was crawling around like a spider with its spiky legs as it scanned deep into the moons crust. Suddenly a moderately large meteorite came out of nowhere colliding with the saucer; sparks flew from it because of the collision. The alien disk fell and stuck into the moon's surface like a heavy ceramic plate tossed at the beach.
Chapter Fourty-One
WHEN JAYDEN AWOKE EARLY THE NEXT MORNING he could hear that it was raining. A loud crack of thunder brought him back to reality and he sat up. Brody had managed to somehow get the cub inside the small cabin and was sitting in the corner with the bear, as happy as a bee on a flower. Jayden wiped the sleep out of his eyes and listened to the sound of the rain, noticing that the cabin was leaking in two spots. A deluge commenced and lasted for almost ten minutes with lightning lighting up the area, but the rain eased off quickly to a moderate rain.
“Brody, what are you doing with that bear in here?”
Brody shrugged. “What? He doesn't wanna get wet. Ever see a bear with the flu? With all the throwing up and diarrhea. Where would we find a witch doctor way out here?”
“How the heck did you get him in here?”
“Pushed him in.”
“Bears like the rain.”
Brody thought about that. “Well let's ask him then smarty pants.” Brody put his hands on both sides of the bear's head. “Would you like to be out in the rain?” Brody shook the bear's head to make it look like he was saying no. “See, he don't like the rain. Have you ever had diarrhea?” The bear shook his head yes and then hit Brody in the side of the head with his paw.
“Ouch that hurt.”
Even though Jayden didn't want to he had to smile. That was one thing about Brody he could usually find a way to cheer him up. “All right enough of that. Hey, I think it stopped raining.” He went outside and stretched and the rain had stopped. The heavy clouds made the morning dark but he noticed that it was starting to clear up in the back. “Brody, after we have breakfast you should get up on the roof and fix those leaks. Maybe we can spend a few days here.”
“Good idea,” said Brody. “I'll see if I can get the bear up there to help me.”
Jayden just shook his head at that idea. He stretched and then cracked his own back; he watched as Brody jumped in the river and pulled out two more large fish. Jayden simply had to try it and so he waded into the water but after ten minutes he gave up. How Brody was able to accomplish such a task was beyond him. He always had a way with animals but fish?
Jayden managed to get the woodstove going without burning the cabin down and then they cooked the fish for breakfast. The clouds were breaking up even more indicating that they might even see the sun this afternoon. The cub kept his distance from the fire as he ate his salmon.
“You know Jayden, I wouldn't mind living here. I'm happy out here, happier than I've been in a long time. I love the forest and I love my bear. He needs a mother he can't take care of himself.”
Jayden shook his head. “We just found all this money and you want to live in the woods? You can't drive a Ferrari in here.”
Brody nodded. “I might not live here forever but I think I'm gonna try it for a year.”
Jayden thought that it would be a bit of a miracle if he ever came up with something smart. “What are you gonna do in the winter? You'll freeze in here. You'll end up just like that skeleton.”
“Jayden I don't think so. I'll cut some wood and get a nice fire going. That skeleton that built this cabin knew what he was doing.”
Jayden didn't like what he was hearing because when Brody got an idea in his head it was hard to knock it out. He was one of the most stubborn people that he had ever met. They might or might not be far enough from where the police were searching. “I'm not staying here Brody. I'm leaving with the money in a couple of days.”
Brody thought about being alone with the bear but he didn't care. “Okay.”
“You don't care that I'm taking all the money?”
“I don't care. Just leave me one of those little stacks and I'm good.”
Jayden went back inside the cabin to lie down and sulk. Leaving Brody and taking off on his own could be a problem, especially since he was supplying all the food, but he certainly didn't want to be stuck in that cabin for a year. They had done so much walking lately that even though he had just gotten up he still managed to doze off but soon awoke with Brody hammering up on the roof. And then the roof was creaking in two different locations and he thought that it couldn't be, but he had to go outside and see for himself. Jayden went outside and sure enough Brody had the bear up on the roof.
Jayden couldn't believe it. “Brody, how the hell did you get that bear up there?”
“I'm not telling,” said Brody.
Jayden considered the situation as he shook his head. “How are you gonna get him down?”
He stopped hammering and looked confused. “Oh, ah, I never thought about that.”
“He's gonna fall off there and break his leg or something and then what are you gonna do with a broken bear?” Jayden yawned and stretched and scratched the back of his head vigorously.
Brody finished repairing the roof. “There I'm finished. I know I'll toss him down and you can catch him.”
Jayden shook his head. “He'd squash me you doofus.”
Without giving Jayden time to prepare he tossed the bear down and Jayden stupidly tried to catch it and the bear ended up knocking the wind out of him. He struggled to get his breath.
“I can't breathe!”
Brody got down off the roof and went over to Jayden. “You won't live very long if you can't breathe. You'll be okay you just got the wind knocked out of you. Hey, a butterfly. It's good luck if you can catch a butterfly and let him go.” He wandered off following the butterfly and ran his head into a branch and it hurt.
“There's your good luck,” said Jayden as he got up.
Chapter Fourty-Two
SAM, RANDY, MICHAEL, JAKE AND JOHNNY all noticed simultaneously that their life sustaining bubbles were shrinking. They all crouched down inside the bubble realizing that when the air was gone they were dead. They sat in the lunar soil and watched as the bubbles got smaller and smaller. Would they struggle for their breaths or would it be instant?
Sam was trying to be calm but he was so scared that he was almost hyperventilating.
“That stupid saucer must have gone back to its home planet!” Randy screamed. “I can walk again and I'm gonna be dead on the moon!”
“Our parents will never know what happened to us,” said Michael. “No one will.”
Johnny nodded. “Every time they look up at the moon they'll be looking at our dead bodies.”
On the dark side of the moon the sphere rapidly went inside the saucer and then the ship lit up. It pulled itself out of the soil and hovered for several minutes as it went through a systems check. The sphere discovered a connection that had been damaged by the impact problem and took care of it. The alien craft shot off with a streak of light, much faster than anything on Earth could manage.
Suddenly their bubbles were back to normal size as the saucer appeared from over the crater behind them. They all ran-bounced as fast as they could to get back inside the ship; it was such a relief to be back in there. Randy kissed the floor and then he kissed the sphere when it floated near him, and all his hair stood up as if he was full of electricity and they all laughed.
“Randy has a girlfriend!” Sam shouted.
“Now bring us home!” Michael screamed at the sphere.
The window thing closed and they all wondered where they were heading now. Hopefully it was back home to good old planet Earth. Travelling in space was fun to a point but much too dangerous.
Chapter Fourty-Three
OFFICER GREEN WAS PARKED ON THE ROAD in his smart-looking red Chevy Malibu; he was off duty and had been staring off at nothing in particular for almost fifteen minutes. He was wearing a gray suit with a red tie and again scratched his head for the umpteenth time. What he was about to do was crazy and yet he felt a truck load of guilt for not telling Randy's parents the truth. He had a ten-year-old boy of his own and he would want to know the truth, but then again he wasn't sure about that. He couldn't even be sure if what they had seen was real but all of them had observed it. Those officers no longer liked to be in one another's presence as it was too much of a reminder of what they had seen.
Officer Green looked out his car window and observed Stella exit her front door and sit down on her front steps; she looked depressed as she drank from her cup of coffee. Less than a minute later John joined her and they sat silently as if they were miles away from one another. He observed them for about another minute before he got out of his car and walked toward the house but then thought better of it and returned to the comfort of his vehicle. After another couple of minutes had passed he got out of his car and tried it again, this time stopping on the sidewalk as he took a deep breath.
He slowly walked up to John and Stella and stopped in front of them. “I'm ah Officer Green.”
John looked at him and then at Stella and then back at the officer. It was obvious that the officer was troubled. He didn't look at all comfortable in his own skin, and he looked like he wanted to run away. “Officer Green you have news about Randy? You look terrible.”
“I ah haven't been sleeping much,” he said.
There was a long silence. He obviously had something to say so why didn't he just say it. “I need to tell you something but it is bizarre, and as soon as I say it you will both think I'm insane.”
With difficulty Stella managed to get the words out. “Is he dead?”
“No, at least he wasn't when I saw him.”
Both John and Stella stood up at the news. John was now angry. “If you saw him why didn't you bring him home? Do the bank robbers have him? Talk to us!”
“Where is he?” Randy's mother demanded.
Officer Green turned around and immediately went back to his car and got in but he didn't pull away. He just sat there as both Stella and John approached his vehicle more confused than ever. He rolled down his window after Stella pounded on it.
“Tell us what you know!” said Stella.
“We all saw it you know,” said the officer. “Maybe it was a mass hallucination but I don't think so. Everyone one of us in the chopper saw it.”
John looked up at the officer. “What is wrong with you?”
Officer Green turned to face them but didn't look directly in their eyes. “If I tell you what I saw you can't tell anyone that I told you and of course I'll deny it. There's no logical explanation to it.”
Stella was about to say something when John touched her on the shoulder; he brought his finger to his lips indication for her to be quiet. John had a feeling that he was about to say it, whatever IT was and he didn't want her to interrupt him.
“I was in the copter that was flying over the forest searching for the kids and it cam
e right up to us and hovered. A flying saucer, you know the alien kind, and it just hovered near us and we could see all the kids in there, including Randy. We looked at them and they looked at us and a few seconds later they were gone in a flash. No sound to the ship at all and they were just gone. How the hell can something like that fly and not make a sound? You didn't hear it from me.” He started the Malibu and slowly drove off.
John looked at Stella and shook his head. “Well that guy was obviously smoking something.”
Stella nodded. “Whatever he thinks he saw sure set his head in a spin.”
“That settles it then,” said John. “Randy's been kidnapped by aliens.”
They had to laugh and it was the first time that they had laughed in quite some time but then the laughter turned to tears. Apparently even officers could be insane.
Chapter Fourty-Four
JAYDEN PUT ON HIS BACKPACK and was determined to leave. Brody was finishing yet another fish as the cub was playing with another turtle near the river. It was a sad situation for both of them because they had been together for years but Jayden had no intention of living in the forest for an entire year; he knew they'd freeze come winter and since he couldn't talk him out of it he felt that he had no choice but to leave. Even though he now had lots of money he didn't know what he would do with himself without his lifelong friend.
“Brody I'm going.”
“Okay.” Brody wiped away a tear.
“Why don't you come with me if you're gonna cry about it?”
Brody shook his head. “I'll miss you but I'm staying. I'm happy here with my bear. I think it's a better place for me here anyway. I fit in here.”
Jayden sighed. “All right then, I imagine that they'll find your dead carcass in January.”
Brody thought about that. “Don't you worry about me. My bear will keep me warm.”
Jayden sighed. “Anyway I'm going. You take care of yourself.”
The Saucer Club Page 13