by Korey Troyer
Earth Kid Hero, Book 1: Lift Off
Korey Troyer
Copyright© 2014 by Korey Troyer
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-9882298-0-8
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my beautiful bride Francoise for your encouragement and love. You have always been there for me. You are my best friend and my love for you is beyond words.
Thank you to my parents Roger and Bonnie Troyer for raising nine very different children.
Thank you Kris Kirkpatrick for your guidance, patience and understanding.
Cover concept and book design by Julie Knudsen, cover illustration by Robby Woodard both from ZAP Creative Group in Sacramento CA. Please visit zapcreative.com.
Illustrations by Max Bravo
Edited by Stevie Mikayne
Dedication
For Harry, Ryenne and Winston. You have made me a better parent and better person. I love you more and more every day.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One – Overdressed
Chapter Two – Good Morning
Chapter Three – The Science Museum
Chapter Four – Tee Ball
Chapter Five – Late Night Visitor
Chapter Six – Lift Off
Chapter Seven – Dark Side of the Moon
Chapter Eight – The Ship
Chapter Nine – Underway
Chapter Ten – Wormhole
Chapter Eleven – Bye Bob
Chapter Twelve – No News
Chapter Thirteen – Rendezvous
Chapter Fourteen – Sidetracked
Chapter Fifteen – Lonely Among Friends
Chapter Sixteen – AMPP
Chapter Seventeen – To the Planet Below
Chapter Eighteen - Pebble
Introduction
More than likely you bought this book because, like me, you are committed to reading with your children. I wrote this book with the idea of reading a chapter every night before bed. The book is written and formatted to fit this goal. The chapters are intentionally short to give more flexibility at bedtime, especially to accommodate the “just one more chapter Dad, please” moments. While the parables and metaphors are kept blatant and simple, the vocabulary is kept at somewhat of an adult level to cajole our son into looking up the big words to expand his vocabulary.
My original intent was to write a story that would address some of the challenges families like ours face every day. This is a compellation of experiences twisted into a fantastic tale. I also wanted an adventurous story without being scary. All perilous situations are resolved with mini-happy endings throughout the book to keep the story exciting and engaging without giving bad dreams. Along with an exciting adventure for my son, I tried to pepper the story with some cheesy adult humor for Moms and Dads.
What started out as a series of bedtime stories for our eldest son blossomed into a book series. Thank you so much for taking time to read “Earth Kid Hero, Book 1: Lift Off.” I truly hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing the story!
Korey Troyer
An ear-piercing hiss exhausted as the hatch opened. The alien atmosphere pummeled the dozen occupants. Pressure hugged their bodies hard, causing rude involuntary noises to erupt from both ends. Awkward stares shot from one Earthling to the next.
Heavy air slid down the Earthling lungs like pudding. Aromas of another planet seeped up their nasal passages. Surprisingly, sweet smells of potpourri and scented candles swirling around them seemed oddly familiar. This sensation made most of the humans hold their breath for a second before inhaling a chest full of alien gases.
A few moments passed while the visitors acclimated to the soupy atmosphere. Ambassador Hilda Wilson insisted that the first meeting was face-to-face, without the aid of a breathing apparatus. They had a thirty-minute time window before they would need oxygen masks.
The group disembarked Earth Ship Explorer in full diplomatic dress. At the opposite end of a grand plaza the aliens stood in a disorganized huddle. The earthlings laid eyes on the non-human intelligent beings who had invited them to this planet.
The image of their hosts startled them. Not because the beings looked strange but because of the bizarre familiarity. Most of the reception party dressed in old-fashioned American styled denim blue jeans and t-shirts.
Walking the fifty-yards across the courtyard proved to be challenging. Although short, the painfully slow trudge made the Earthlings struggle to breathe the thick air. The light gravity assisted the travelers’ tolerance of the pressing atmosphere.
A colossal statue stood behind the alien diplomats in blue jeans. The sculpture rose five hundred feet, painted with wonderful colors and featuring six figures standing upright. One of the images was obviously a robot. The others were humanoid. Three had orange skin. A slender man with dark hair appeared to be winking while giving the ‘thumbs up’.
Stunned, Ambassador Wilson recognized the figure in front.
Her assistant Leonard Spencer edged closer and caught her by the elbow. “Is that who I think it is?” he asked, astonished.
The Ambassador cut him off. “Leonard what’s wrong with your voice?”
Then she realized she too had a low grumbling tone. The atmosphere made their voices deep, similar to a bull sea elephant. Between the wheezing from the heavy air and the baritone growl, the Earthlings sounded like a chorus of silver back gorillas. On any other day this would have been quite humorous, but the fumbling gaggle of humans toiled to recoup their dignity.
“Silence!” Ambassador Wilson boomed in her deep bass voice. “Please, I’ll speak on our behalf. We do not want to make a bad first impression by resembling an angry pack of grizzlies!”
The group standing in front of the statue choked back snickers at the sight of twelve Earth dignitaries slogging along in fancy uniforms while rumbling like a herd of Brahma bulls. The alien leader shushed his subordinates, chiding them for finding humor in another’s misfortune. The host group composed themselves and put on big smiles.
Leonard turned to Ambassador Wilson as he looked at the inscription at the base of the towering memorial. “That’s English! Uh, I don’t, uh, what’s going on?”
Niko Kobyashi, the ship's pilot, piped up in an Incredible Hulk voice as he pointed at one of the beings in front of them. “Is he wearing a ‘Keep on Truckin’ tee shirt? What the—”
“Stop it! All of you!” Ambassador Wilson commanded. “We’ve been sending signals from Earth for generations. Perhaps they interpreted this environment from old television programs. This all may have been created to help us feel at ease. We’re almost to the rendezvous point. Let’s just make first contact. Then we can ask all about this.”
Finally face-to-face, both groups stood awkwardly smiling at each other. Ambassador Wilson approached an older dark-haired gentleman who had a warm smile and kindly brown eyes, assuming he must be the leader since his coat had a moniker, which read ‘Members Only’ over the breast pocket.
The man in the gray jacket opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, belting out “Welcome to Fantasy Island!” in a thick Spanish accent.
The outburst jolted the visitors who shrank back in surprise. He raised his eyebrows and stretched his neck out toward them with an inquisitive look.
“Huh? No? Not workin’ for ya’? Sorry about that, we l
ike to break the ice when things seem a tad too heavy,” he said, suddenly changing to an American Midwest accent.
Confused would be an understatement for the Earthlings.
“Normally we tell a joke to start the ball rolling but I thought I’d mix it up a bit. Okay, try this one on for size,” the alien leader continued, leaning secretively toward Ambassador Wilson. “What do you get when you cross an Earthling with a vegetable plant? A Human Bean! Get it?”
The alien leader nudged the Ambassador with his elbow as a slight chuckle rumbled through the alien group. The Earthlings now feared that they may have traveled thousands of light years for a standup comedy act.
“And then what do you suppose the human bean said on first contact?” the alien continued. “Anyone? ‘We come in peas.’ Now that’s funny!”
He punctuated the punch line with a quick finger point from the hip as the alien reception committee erupted into a full blown laughing fit. The leader turned and waved his hands at his group to quiet them down.
Ambassador Wilson started grumbling like a feeding lion as the man in gray held up his hand in a stop gesture.
“Wait, I can’t take you seriously when you sound like Darth Vader,” he stated with a grin. “Here, put on these rings, they will regulate your biochemistry to adapt to our atmosphere. You’ll breathe easily and not sound so silly.”
The man in gray handed a fistful of rings to Ambassador Wilson. She quickly passed them along to the crew. As they slipped the rings on their fingers, the Earthlings felt instant relief and began breathing normally. While gaining her composure, Hilda realized her ‘We come in peace’ speech was a goner since the aliens would laugh her back to the ship. Time to punt, she thought.
“I am Ambassador Hilda Wilson,” she said with diplomatic savvy. “On behalf of Earth, thank you for inviting us to your planet.”
The man in gray gripped her hand with both hands and responded with enthusiasm. “Nice to meet you Hilda. May I call you Hilda? My name is George.”
The Ambassador forced a smile replying, “George?”
The handshake stopped; however, George still held on tight. “Yes, just George. Although I am the president so you may call me Mister President, el Presidente, da Prez, G-Man, The Don—whatever floats your boat. But I prefer George if you don’t mind.”
“George it is, then,” said the Ambassador as George let go of her hand at last.
“We’re very informal,” George continued. “We have a mutual respect which transcends title or station. To put it simply, we just get it.”
Hilda gestured to her right. “May I introduce Cornelius Marvel,” she said. “He is the expedition leader and Captain of Earth Ship Explorer.”
George went in for the double gripped handshake again. “Cor-meister, how the heck are ya? Great to meet you!”
In response, George turned to his Vice President and brought him closer to the Earthlings. Jerry had a red pen tucked behind his left ear and was wearing a maroon flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His short, stocky frame and tan complexion set his piercing blue eyes glowing over his round nose and perfectly white teeth.
“Meet Jerry, the Veep. Jer, say ‘Hi’ to the folks. This is Hilda and this is…”
Suddenly Cornelius interrupted the introductions. “I prefer Captain, if you please. We have diplomatic protocol to keep in mind.”
“So you want us to call you Captain Marvel?” Jerry asked, grinning slyly.
The captain grimaced. “Yes, if you please.”
“You got it Captain Marvel!”
Jerry patted him on the bicep, chortling merrily as he turned to George and pointed back with his thumb. “This kid is a gas, George! Can we keep him?”
A muted giggle sounded from the alien host party.
“I fail to see the humor in my name,” said Captain Marvel.
“We apologize if we have offended you,” George piped in. “We’ll explain the name thing later.”
Hilda craned her head around, soaking in the surroundings during the exchange between Jerry and Captain Marvel. The architecture blended Earth and alien, with the Earth portion being something akin to a Tudor gingerbread house in a Doctor Seuss book. The longer Hilda scanned the area, the more confusing it became. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked up at George with a distressed expression.
George gazed back in a fatherly way, saying, “Yeah, we got some ’splainin’ to do.”
Suddenly a loud voice shouted from the rear of Earthling expedition. “Why do you wear ancient Earth clothing? Why is the inscription on this statue in old English? What are you doing with a memorial to one of the greatest Earthlings who ever lived? And what is with the riddles and childish humor?”
George stood up on his tiptoes, peering over the crowd. “Would the inquisitive young man in the back please step forward?”
The expedition’s anthropologist weaved his way through the group.
“What’s your name, son?” asked George, with a friendly wink.
The young objecting man stuck out his chest and rolled his jaw. “My name is Doctor Francis Rashmi.”
George leaned in closer, cupped his left hand and patted the Doctor’s cheek. “Lighten up Francis,” he teased.
George stepped back with his arms outstretched. “This is a celebration!” he exclaimed. “We have plenty of time to answer all your questions. But I will say this, our worlds are intertwined. As you can see by our surroundings, we have commonalities between us. In a nutshell, if it wasn’t for Earth, our planet wouldn’t exist.”
The humans burst into an uproar, forcing the Ambassador to gain control of her group quickly. “Everyone please restrain yourselves,” she ordered. “We are in the midst of a historic moment. What happens here will be repeated for generations.”
“I’m sure you want to know why you are here,” George said as he shuffled back to his group, observing the Earthlings as he went.
“Yes,” Hilda responded. “But would it not have been easier for you to visit Earth? Sending us charts of the wormholes with instructions to ‘figure it out’ perplexed us. We took a decade to decipher the meaning and another decade to create the means to make the journey.”
George placed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “It’s common sense really. First contact is always done off the planet being contacted. We didn’t want a ‘War of the Worlds’ scenario triggering mass hysteria and social upheaval.
“Can you imagine an alien space ship just showing up and landing on Earth?” he continued, waving his hands about as a tour guide would do. “Your world would have been torn apart. First contact is an extremely delicate process. There are reasons for everything we do. Even if it doesn’t make sense to you now, it will become clear in time.”
Hilda decided to go with her gut and grabbed George's hand, smiling warmly. “What do we do now George?” she asked.
“Well, I’m sure you all are fatigued from the journey,” the President responded. “We will take you to your rooms to rest and freshen up. We have a super celebration planned this evening. Nothing does more for diplomacy than a good party! The most delicious foods on our planet will be served. You are in for a treat, I assure you.”
“That sounds fabulous George,” said Hilda. “We are very excited. And thank you for your gracious hospitality.”
“When you are ready, please follow me” said George as he turned and walked toward a row of shiny sleek looking chrome bicycles.
“Hop on! Grab whatever bike you like,” George shouted as he saddled up.
“Uh, bicycles?” Hilda muttered.
“I suppose you expected a flying carpet ride over the capital city where you would be very impressed by our awesomeness, eh?” George said, leaning over to her.
Hilda hesitated and nodded.
“I
’m afraid we’re not that cool,” George replied. “In truth, you’ve been through a lot so far. Sensory overload would be bad. I promise we will take an aerial tour once everything is in its place. We are a casual people however fastidious regarding procedure.”
“You are going to love this ride! I never tire of the scenery!” George bellowed as both groups mounted the cycles. He began pumping the pedals and launched off at rocket speed yelling “Yee Haw! Giddy Up!”
Everyone followed behind the President and Veep Jerry. They passed super slides, games, amusement rides and a rollercoaster. The humans couldn’t help but notice the sign on the roller coaster with bright blinking lights. The sign read ‘Captain Marvel; The Ride’ which was quite surreal indeed – especially for one young man named Cornelius.
“I think that went well,” George expressed to Jerry as they sped along. “The Earthlings should pick up quickly. They are bright and inquisitive.”
Jerry chuckled “Yeah, but wait ’til they find out about the smell!”
Both men broke into hearty belly laughs, nearly crashing their bikes.