Randy still couldn't believe what they were trying to accomplish. “Anyone remember which way to go?”
Michael cracked his own neck. “I think it's down that way and to the left.”
Way down the hall an alien slithered out of one doorway and then crossed the hall entering another chamber. The only thing that came close to it back on Earth was a deformed octopus, and even then it really wasn't all that close. They all wanted to scream but didn't dare. Randy's heart was beating so fast that he thought it might stop. And then another alien crossed the hall, this one looking nothing like the other one and they all found that strange. It looked like a giant ant with a snail for a head; it was one disgusting looking alien.
“I wonder if we'd look as ugly to them as they do to us?” said Sam.
“I hope so,” said Michael. “That way they might be scared of us.”
Sam shook his head. “I doubt it.”
They quickly made their way down the hall, hoping that if they were fast enough they wouldn't run into one of those ugly things. Then they entered the chamber on the left and came face-to-face with the ugliest thing they had ever seen. Even their worst nightmares couldn't compare to its hideousness. It had eight bony legs and four black eyes, each eye having a wandering red dot in its center. A large bump on its head repeatedly expanded and then shrunk. How many different beings were on the ship?
Even though they wanted to be quiet they all screamed.
Chapter Fifty-Four
JOHN AND STELLA SPENT THE NIGHT IN THE FOREST and went home the next morning. What they saw in the woods only served to confuse and scare them. They didn't know what to think or where to turn. It was an awful feeling being so completely helpless. The police were no help. Stella wanted results and not excuses. They could not believe that Randy had been taken away by a flying saucer. They had no explanation for the strange sphere or what it had showed them and they continued to hope that Randy would find his way home soon so they could put this thing behind them. Every single day was longer than the last one. Life no longer had any enjoyment to it at all.
John was so worried about Randy that he stopped drinking and was determined to never touch another drop, blaming himself for his son being lost in the forest. It was strange but he had no desire for it at all. Each passing day made it more difficult to stay positive but they continued to have at least some hope that he would return; it felt as if they were sinking in quicksand with nothing to grab onto.
Stella was now having nightmares about Randy being trapped inside a flying saucer; she would wake up screaming and then couldn't get back to sleep. She would often find John sitting in the living room drinking coffee in the middle of the night. Not knowing what was going on with Randy was the worst part but at least he wasn't alone. Any positive thought that she could come up with gave her a little more hope, at least for a little while. She had tried to talk to Officer Green but was told that he had taken a leave of absence.
Morning found John on his recliner chair trying to read the newspaper but all he could manage was to turn the pages. He couldn't concentrate on anything. Each passing hour now seemed like ten. It felt like he needed help coping but he didn't have the strength to seek it out. Stella looked like she had aged ten years and he imagined that he had aged twenty. Step right up folks and see the couple age right before your eyes.
Stella's mother Lydia entered the living room with two green suitcases in hand. It was a surprise to see her as she hadn't told them she was coming. She desperately wanted to know what happened to her only grandson. “Stella, what the hell is going on? Did you find him?”
Stella thought that her mother would only make things worse, especially since she didn't get along with John. Her mother was often a difficult and opinionated woman and often didn't make a lot of sense. “The police are still looking for him but if they don't find him soon they're liable to give up.”
Lydia dropped her suitcases hard to make a point. “And you two are just going to sit here on your arses doing nothing? Some kids are never found you know; they just go missing and that's it.”
“Mother please. We spent the night in the woods looking for him. What the hell do you expect us to do? We're under enough stress now don't make it any worse.”
It was the first time that John heard Stella talk back to her mother and he was proud of her. He wished that aliens would come down and suck Lydia up and take off with her, but then he imagined that they would soon bring her back. He didn't think they'd be able to stand her either. He imagined some ugly alien fighting with Lydia; they would be evenly matched, of that he had no doubt.
Chapter Fifty-Five
THE STRANGE LOOKING ALIEN RAN AWAY, being so traumatized that it was unable to scream. It had never ever seen aliens so hideous in all its life. It was so terrified that it shook as it made its way to sound the alarm that they had intruders onboard. It didn't think it would ever get over seeing such creatures and might have to be put to sleep for several months to be able to deal with the shock of the encounter. It actually cried as it made its way to find someone to tell but Isdhi was quite sure that their warriors would make quick work of those hideous things and until they were dealt with he would find somewhere to hide.
Sam, Randy, Michael, Jake and Johnny bolted and ran into another corridor; they weren't sure if they were in the right location or not but when the small pyramids refused to come off of them they guessed that they weren't. As they hurried into the third chamber they discovered a pulsing wall and that is where the pyramids abandoned them and commenced to form the large two foot high pyramid. The small pyramids jumped together as if they had a life of their own. When it was completed it started to pulsate at the same rate as the walls. They all guessed that it was the countdown to the explosion that would hopefully destroy the ship and save the Earth and that meant they had to get the heck out of there and quick.
They ran out of the chamber as fast as they could, and for Randy he realized how good it felt to be able to run again. But they took a wrong turn and almost ended up in a room where about a dozen creatures were having a meeting, a hologram of the Earth floated in the center of the chamber. They slowly backed out and tried hard to get their bearings.
“Which freaking way?” said Randy. “I thought it was this way?”
“I thought it was this way too,” Michael whispered.
“I think it's this way,” said Johnny as he took off on the run with the others following. But one wrong turn could lead to another and then another; they might not be able to get out in time.
They ended up in another chamber with a gear type mechanism spinning rapidly in the center of the room. It had an eerie green glow emanating from it. They all looked at one another with panic in their eyes. They had no idea how long before the ship blew up and absolutely no idea where they were. They were lost and might never find the way back to their kite-shaped spaceship.
Michael was frantic. “Oh my god if we don't get out of here we're gonna be blown to pieces!”
“Come on,” said Sam. “We have to backtrack!”
They ran through the monster ship as fast as they could; their adrenalin pumping as they realized that any moment could be their last. They didn't have time to cry even though they all wanted to, time was ticking. Nothing looked familiar at all. One hall looked different than every other hall. They even ran through a chamber where two aliens appeared to be wrestling.
Finally an area looked familiar. They ran down that hall and took a right and to their horror it was a dead end.
“I, I, I think we're dead!” Randy screamed.
Outside the colossal ship flew around the dark side of the moon and when it came around to the side facing the Earth its propulsion system stopped. It commenced to slowly drift and rotate then there was a huge explosion. It came apart in pieces and chunks. A multicolored fire was burning on one of the larger chunks as it crashed into the surface of the moon, adding yet another crater to it, and another large piece heading into deep space.
Yet another huge chunk was burning with green fire.
One chunk of debris that was more than a hundred miles long was now heading for the Earth, and it was so large that it could definitely bring about the extinction on all life on the planet.
Chapter Fifty-Six
The kite-shaped spaceship survived the fiery explosion of the great ship, and had also made its way to the boys, picking them up just in time, but three fighters from the monster spaceship had also survived the detonation.
“Shit that was close!” Michael screamed. “When that thing blew up we were all see-through.”
“Un oh!” Sam shouted. “Look at the size of that freaking piece that's heading towards Earth.”
“We have to shoot it or push it away!” said Randy. “That thing will do as much damage as the biggest asteroid!”
Just then the ship spoke and what it said wasn't good. “Error! Malfunction! Error.”
Randy jumped on the ball and discovered that the ship was now under manual control only. The smallest sphere that they had ever observed exited from one wall and entered into the other. “Error,” it said with its small voice. “Malfunction.”
Randy directed the ship toward the huge chunk of debris; he thought it might be better to push it out of orbit rather than shoot it into small but perhaps still dangerous chunks. The guys got behind him and tried hard to help him navigate but suddenly they were under attack. The monster ship had managed to launch three small fighters and they were out for revenge. They were hit with three blasts and it rocked the entire ship. Randy managed to turn their ship around and blasted it by tapping on the basketball size sphere that now also controlled direction and velocity, the attacking spacecraft exploded as Randy hit it again and again, knocking Sam and Michael off their feet from the shock wave.
“Take over Sam I hurt my hand,” Randy shouted.
Sam made the ship surge and to his surprise it smashed into the enemy fighter causing damage to both spacecraft. The enemy took most of the damage and went spinning off into deep space as it had lost all its power. He dove down into the Earth's atmosphere as that huge piece of debris commenced to fall dangerously towards Earth, but at the same time they were being shot at by the last enemy ship. Three more sphere's appeared from inside the ship and then sank into the floor. “Repair,” said one.
It was a tricky maneuver but Sam managed to get the ship against the chunk and push it out of the Earth's atmosphere; it smashed into the enemy craft and destroyed it. The huge chuck now drifted away from the Earth and would impact the moon in less than twenty-four hours.
They all cheered and gave each other high-fives but Randy then realized that they still had a huge problem. “How are we gonna land this thing? I mean if it doesn't fix itself? We'll crash for sure.”
Sam shrugged. “I don't freaking know.” He took the ship down into the Earth's atmosphere as a sphere emerged from the floor and suddenly he had no control. “Hey, it's working again! Yeah! Take us home!”
“Repair complete.”
The spaceship was now flying over the Great Wall of China. Then suddenly they were flying over Newfoundland and in no time at all they were back to where they had found the ship stuck in the side of the cliff. They floated out of the spacecraft surrounded by their protective bubbles but they soon dissipated as Jake got down and started kissing the ground.
Michael danced. “I can't believe we made it back alive! Holy GOD!”
“Yeah and Randy can walk!”
Jake smiled. “And I got moon rocks, Martian rocks and soil, rocks from Saturn's rings and that weird stuff from that alien planet!”
“And we saved the world,” said Johnny. “I hope we haven't been gone for a thousand years.”
They all stopped and looked frightened. If that was the case everything and everyone they knew and loved would be gone. Even their homes would be long gone and replaced by who knows what.
Sam looked around studying the forest. “Guys, we haven't been gone a thousand years. All the trees are exactly the same. But I wish it would have dropped us off home instead of here.”
“Yeah,” said Randy. “It's gonna be a long walk home but I don't care because I can WALK! My parents are gonna freak out!”
Sam agreed. “The whole neighborhood is gonna freak out.”
It was just after eight o'clock in the evening when Stella went to the window and looked out. John was having a strong cup of coffee when Stella's screams made him drop the coffee and spill it all over the place. She ran out of the house so fast that it must have been a world record. John went to the window and saw Randy standing out there, not in a wheelchair but standing! Stella hugged Randy so hard that it hurt.
“How are you walking? How are you walking?” Stella was crushing him.
“Mom, stop, you're hurting me!” said Randy. “Want me to end up in a wheelchair again!”
John picked up Randy and hugged him. “How is this possible?”
“It's a long story Dad. How long have we been gone?”
“Over two weeks!” said Stella. “But you should know that.”
Randy shrugged. “Time is not the same when you are trapped inside of a flying saucer.”
Sam, Michael, Jake and Johnny were enjoying Randy being united with his parents but it was time for them to head home as well. They knew they were lucky to have survived.
“Hey Randy,” said Sam.
“What?”
“The rest of the summer is going to be so boring.”
Randy nodded. “I know. Totally boring. Hey we should write a book!”
“Yeah!” Michael shouted. “Let's do it.”
The Interview
Sam, Randy and the other boys were in a television studio facing bright lights. They had been through so much that they weren't at all nervous.
Velchi: So Sam when did you guys first realize that you were in trouble?
Sam: “When we couldn't get out of the saucer. Getting in and out was just like magic.”
Randy: “Yeah, you could just walk right through the walls.
Sam: “Yeah, but then all of a sudden we couldn't. We couldn't get out.”
Velchi: So I take it that you guys were scared? I know I would have been.”
Johnny: “Yeah, we were pretty much all panicking. We thought we might be trapped in there forever.”
Velchi: “At first no one believed your stories but now most people do believe that you went to another planet in a flying saucer. I can't believe what I'm saying. Your journey has forced the whole world to think differently about our place in the universe. It's just incredible.”
Jake: “We did it and it's hard for us to believe. I have a really hard time to get to sleep, we all do.”
Michael: “The only reason they believe is because of that little pyramid that was stuck on Randy's back. Even with the moon rocks and the Martian rocks I don't know if anyone would have believed us. Even with Randy being healed they probably wouldn't have believed us. Because when you think about it is hard to believe.”
Velchi: “That little pyramid is supplying energy to all of the eastern United States and as I hear it's continuing to spread. Cars don't even need gas anymore. It's incredible. Scientists don't know what to make of it. It has spread up into Canada now and as far west as Texas and its energy is continuing to expand. Some think that it might end up covering the entire planet. A world that is not dependent on oil will certainly be a different one. Scientists are already worried about depending on the energy of the pyramid because what if its energy runs out in a hundred years? It's the strangest thing.”
Sam: “Yeah, no one understands it and it's being guarded by the military so no one can steal it. It's cool when you think about it because the military can't keep it for themselves. If it gives energy to the whole world they can't stop it.”
Michael: “I hit it with a hammer and it didn't do anything to it.”
Velchi: “Why would you hit it with a hammer?”
Michael: “I wanted to see what
was inside of it.”
Velchi: “And you boys are all rich now?”
Randy: “Yup. We're gonna write a book about it; they gave us millions as an advance and we split it.”
A sphere enters the studio and floats near the boys as Velchi looks frightened. He points at it with his mouth open.
Michael: Look how scared he is!”
Velchi: “Commercial break!”
Knights of the Dragon
A female dragon named Ryxa befriends a boy only to discover that his kingdom will soon be conquered by another and the boy is doomed, and so to save him and his people she hires knights to go on an adventure with her and the boy to find magic.
Leeander's knight Stone is sent out to capture a wizard in an attempt to defend the kingdom while trying hard to keep his eyes off princess Alexa, who insists on going with them in pursuit of a sorcerer.
Meanwhile, a red dragon named Ella falls for a black dragon, which is taboo, and she tries hard to resist his irresistible charm. She doesn't want her life to be left in ruins because of bonding with a black dragon.
Book page in Amazon
The following BONUS chapters are the sequel and the continuing stories from Knights of the Dragon. Look for Marcus (the boy wizard), Ash, (the wizard Dragon) and all the others in Knights of the Wizard to be released sometime in 2014.
*** It is a work in progress and therefore subject to change. ***
The Saucer Club Page 17