My Friend is an Alien (niklas and friends)

by Niklas Edlund

  "You know," said Keith, once he was clean, "this lake's not so bad. We don't have to be in that much of a hurry to return. And it is a nice day."

  Suddenly bubbles formed at the far edge of the lake. Morik's eyes went wide. The others hadn't seen it, but before Morik could yell a warning, a huge, serpentine head and twenty feet of neck burst forth from the water and bellowed at the top of its lungs, then eyed the five boys hungrily.

  "Get shore!" shrieked Morik, even as they all were doing just that. "That can't come on land!" Seconds later, the boys had made shore, grabbed their boots, Jahv's backpack, and Morik's stuffed animal, and had just kept running. "Boy, one word from you about having a good time on a nice day —!" joked Davy to Keith.

  "And how is this MY fault!?" countered Keith, but he realized his friend was kidding.

  Not long after, and breathing hard, they had reached their shuttle and were all strapped into their seats, Morik having been placed and strapped into one of the extras since the vessel had been designed to seat seven besides the pilot, and took off.

  "What your world like?" asked Morik, who was clearly nervous about being on board a shuttle or apparently anywhere near machinery, but trying to stay calm for the sake of his new friends.

  "Well, for starters, we don't always run around naked." remarked Keith, standing up once the shuttle had cleared the atmosphere. Jahv hadn't had time to program the return course to Earth, so they had a few minutes. Keith was trying to figure out how to program the fabricator to make new uniforms. Finally Jahv came over and did so.

  "For another thing," said Keith, "our dinosaurs had the good sense to either die off or evolve into something a bit less hazardous."

  "You've never seen an alligator or a crocodile, have you?" remarked Davy.

  Morik watched the others get dressed. Jahv hadn't bothered yet, not because he didn't intend to, but because he was too busy flying the shuttle. Technically, it would be appropriate for him to wear some space-clothes out here. Morik seemed confused by what the others were doing. "I have to put on extra skins like you?" He seemed upset at the notion.

  "Not to worry." said Davy. "You should probably stay with Jahv and Keyro. They never wear anything, anyway."

  Morik brightened. "I think I will like your world."

  "We haven't had any complaints from any other aliens." joked Niklas, as laughter filled the shuttle on its way back to Earth.

  Part 7

  Jahv, Niklas, Keith, Davy, and their new friend Morik were returning to Earth, after discovering Morik, one of a handful of survivors (and the only one in the area) on a jungle planet that featured, among other peculiarities, flowers that sprayed a mist that dissolved the fabric of the uniforms the boys had been wearing, and an aquatic dragon of considerable size that had attempted to turn the boys into lunch.

  Keith especially had not taken this well, given his encounter with a similar creature in a holographic representation of Jahv's homeworld. He sat towards the back of the shuttle, muttering, "Overgrown lizards. Is Earth the only planet where the dinosaurs had the decency to die off before people came along? Jeez…"

  At this point, the flight was proceeding fairly quietly. They were in hyperwarp, bound for Earth. Keith was trying to get the food replicator to make him a pizza. None of the youngsters could help but be reminded of a small microwave oven when they used the machine, since structurally it was very similar, except you didn't have to put food into it to get food out of it. And Keith had been reasonably successful with a cheeseburger on the first flight.

  Jahv had replaced everyone's uniforms, but Morik had done without clothing for as long as he could remember, and wasn't entirely comfortable with the concept. He was grateful that he would be staying with two others, Jahv and Keyro, that didn't wear clothing on a regular basis. As it stood, all he could stand to wear was a pair of space boots identical to everyone else's, and the skimpiest pair of shorts imaginable. These made speedos look like boxer shorts by comparison. If the sides were any narrower, they would have had to have been measured in molecules. He looked a little silly wearing only this and the oversized, padded boots, but either he didn't notice or, more likely, didn't care.

  What was truly odd, though, were the colors Morik had requested. The shorts, such as they were, were bright yellow with swirls of red and purple in them. Jahv had speculated that it was possible that Morik's natural Dorrian tendencies towards making everything ornate, since the Dorrians had been known for being artisans of the highest degree, were starting to re-emerge, and either had a ways to go, or else Morik just had rotten taste in color schemes.

  Morik was spending his time wearing the encephalo-educator headband that had been found in the ruins of his family's shuttle. Somehow, when Jahv had placed it on Morik's head and then attempted to telepathically teach him English through it, the device had not only absorbed the English language, but had reset itself to operate far faster than before. Morik had realized that his language skills, to say nothing of his social skills, were severely hindered, and it embarassed him. So he was determined to bring himself up to date on the language as quickly as possible. He was paying for it with a headache he'd not soon forget, but he felt it was worth it. As far as social skills were concerned, he figured the best thing to do was just stay quiet and watch the others. Niklas and Davy were fixated on the images of stars flying past the large side windows of the shuttle. There was a gorgeous nebula in the distance that was far more brilliant than anything one could see on Earth. The two boys had been actively talking about what a grand adventure this was all turning out to be. Keith, on the other hand, was sitting in a chair away from the windows, and looked less than delighted. It was hard to tell if he was bored, angry, or scared.

  Finally the other two boys noticed their friend's disposition. "You okay, Keith?" asked Niklas.

  Keith grumbled. "Ask me that when we get back to Earth."

  "Y'know, you've been acting a bit nasty since this whole trip started." commented Davy. "If you didn't want to come along, why did you?"

  Keith glared. "Because while you two put your heads in the clouds, or the stars, or whatever, somebody had to come along to keep your feet on the ground!"

  "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Niklas.

  "You've been watching too many episodes of Star Trek or whatever, that's what I mean." said Keith. "In all of your watching space movies and stuff, did you miss 'Apollo 13? And that's the one that really happened!"

  "Are you saying…" began Davy.

  "I'm saying," interrupted Keith, "that we're shooting through space, faster-than-light, further out than anybody from our planet has ever been, on board a ship built by two kids who aren't that different from us, and all you two can do is gape out the windows. If anything happened to Jahv, do you think any of us would ever see home again?"

  "And you'd rather sit there, sulk, and dwell on that than enjoy this opportunity to see the universe from a perspective that no one ever has before?" exclaimed Niklas. "I think this is all magnificent! I can see why astronauts and cosmonauts have always found traveling in space to be such an incredible experience. And we've gone a lot further than they ever have."

  "I'd rather you guys keep a balanced view here, that's all." said Keith. "Sure, this is all pretty fantastic. But if you're expecting the Starship Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon to come zipping along, don't hold yer breath."

  Suddenly a loud THUNK reverberated through the ship, which seemed to stall and shudder. "Uh, oh…" remarked Jahv worriedly from the cockpit. If he'd heard any of the conversation, he was either too polite or too occupied just now to say so.

  "Hey, those are not words you want to hear when you're still a dozen light years from home, okay?" said Keith. Morik deactivated the headband. He didn't know machinery, but he could tell something wasn't right.

  "What happened?" asked Niklas, moving up to the cockpit area.

  Jahv was frantically checking controls. "I don't know yet! We're losing hyperwarp speed, but I don't know why!
"

  "What's going to happen?" exclaimed Davy frantically.

  There was another loud THUNK which reverberated through the shuttle. The youngsters were all panicked at this point, including Jahv. "What's the matter with this thing?"

  "Do something, greenie!" yelled Keith, wishing there was someplace to run but realizing there wasn't.

  "I would if I knew what to do!" countered Jahv. "I can't even figure out what's happening! Sensors won't work, we're bouncing all over hyperspace. We could emerge anywhere in the galaxy!"

  The shuttle was bucking around severely at this point. Niklas and Keith had been on their feet and got roughly slammed to the floor. They clambered into their chairs and strapped in.

  Jahv was trying desperately to stay calm and figure out what was happening. A console on the wall behind him suddenly sparked, but a quick glance told him that it was, of all things, the windshield wipers. Jahv took a couple of deep breaths and called to mind everything his parents had taught him about emergency shuttle procedures. He continued checking the control panels. "Okay. I know what's wrong. Hyperwarp stabilizer malfunction. We're going to have to pull out of this, or we really could get lost halfway across the galaxy. But I've got to find us someplace to — I think you would call it 'pull over' — to effect repairs."

  A loud BANG shot through the shuttle. Niklas and Davy both screamed. Morik was just hanging on, eyes wide and petrified. It was entirely possible he was having a nasty flashback to his last shuttle flight, the one which had killed his parents and stranded him on a wild jungle planet. "What the hell was that?!" yelled Keith.

  Jahv, fighting panic, shot his hands across the control panels. The readings did not look good. "Stabilizer's shot entirely. We're coming out of hyperwarp. Hang on."

  The shuttle vibrated and the metal screamed. The stars flashing past diminished into the normal points of light that they always appeared to be. Finally the ship shuddered a few times and stalled, nearly dead in space.

  "What now?" cried Davy.

  "Told you this could happen." said Keith, although he was as petrified as the others. He'd trusted Jahv, as well, and hadn't really expected anything this bad to happen.

  Jahv continued to keep his own panic in check as best as possible. "Okay, run procedures." he said to himself. "Structural integrity — no, dammit — life support first. Life support fully functional. We won't run out of air. Structural integrity next. We're sound except for a slight breach caused when the stabilizer coil gave out, but that section is isolated to itself and can withstand space. Engine power — we've got sublight engines all the way up to.9995. I can maybe get us close enough to light-speed to shave some time off to a repair facility. Bridge us between normal space and hyperspace. Pray we're close to something useful."

  "What the hell are you jabbering about up there!" yelled Keith, who had unstrapped from his chair. "You've just stranded us and you're running a checklist?!"

  "Keith, I realize you're scared, and so am I, but panic won't do any good. Please sit down until I can figure out where we are and how badly off this ship is."

  "Why, you —!" started Keith, but he was restrained by Davy, who had gotten up, as had Niklas and Morik.

  "Keith, chill out. Let's see what's going on." urged Davy.

  "Jahv, how bad is it, really?" said Niklas. They were all fighting panic, but Jahv was right. It wouldn't help.

  "We've got sensors, and I'm running star charts." said Jahv, almost mechanically.

  "Star charts?!" exploded Keith. "What the hell good are —?!"

  Jahv shot out of his seat and faced the terrified Keith. "All right, that's enough! You're scared, I'm scared, we're all scared! And maybe I'm a stranger on your planet and don't know my way around even well enough to go to a mall, but out here, this is MY territory and I DO know what I'm doing! There are emergency procedures that are drilled into the head of every single space-faring Botaran from the instant they can understand language! And right now, that's what I'm doing. You want to know what happened? Fine! We blew a stabilizer coil. That means we can't use the hyperwarp engines to travel faster than light. We need a replacement part, which won't really be that hard to find PROVIDED we're close enough to a place where we can get one. When I realized what was happening, I had just enough time to point us more or less in a direction where we should be able to get help. And I'm running star charts right now to find out just where the closest help might be. Okay?!"

  Jahv was shaking, partly from anger but mostly from fear. So was Keith. The two faced each other for a long moment. Nobody moved. Finally Keith backed off. "Just get us home. Whatever it takes."

  "That, I promise you." said Jahv.

  "Are we — lost?" asked Morik. He'd been too scared to even speak until now.

  "I hope not." said Jahv. Suddenly the console in the cockpit beeped. Had it found something?

  Jahv's fingers flew across the controls, and star maps soared across the screen. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved at the results or not. "Garboris. Not the nicest place in the galaxy, but it'll have to do. I've been there before, with my parents, years ago."

  "What's Garboris?" asked Davy. "Some sort of planet?"

  Jahv shook his head, replotting the course. "It's a space station. Huge. In what we call open space. It's not aligned with any of the major empires, alliances, or federations. Nicely placed along major trade routes, though. People go there to trade, repair their ships, stuff like that — especially when they want to avoid any official attention."

  "Like a shuttle with five kids, no adults, three of which don't even belong this far out in space, and one of which is a runaway from his homeworld?" speculated Niklas.

  "Something like that." grinned Jahv.

  "What's this space station like?" asked Davy.

  Jahv pondered the question, trying to put it in terms his friends would understand. "Think of Deep Space Nine from Star Trek crossed with the Mos Eisley spaceport from Star Wars, but not quite as nice as either one."

  "Terrific." said Keith sullenly. "Just when I tell these two to get their minds of off Star Trek and Star Wars, our own resident alien has to go make comparisons."

  "The trick now is getting there." said Jahv. "We're honestly lucky to be as close as we are to it. Without hyperwarp, it'll take the better part of an hour. Let's hope we didn't suffer any more damage."

  The voyage continued in relative silence. Keith had returned to his seat and brought his legs up and rested his head against his knees. He didn't say anything. Davy and Niklas, seated next to each other, just tried to keep calm and held each other's hands. Morik had strapped himself in and had put the educator headband back on, wondering if there was anything in it about space flight.

  Roughly an hour later, during which time everyone calmed down as much as possible — it helped just to realize they were at least moving towards possible help and not just sitting dead in space — the space station called Garboris was on the sensor screen, and finally appeared in the windows. It actually looked vaguely like Deep Space Nine, in that it was circular, with pylons jutting out, and a central section. But it was bulkier in appearance, and the pylons were more numerous and more haphazard. The place also looked ill-kept, with dirt and rust in apparent evidence. Either that, or this place had been cobbled together from materials that had already been rusted or dirty in the first place, or just naturally dingy regardless of their condition.

  Jahv had a concerned look on his face. "Yeesh, it looks worse than it did five years ago when I was last here. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but we're out of options. I can't fix the stabilizer without being docked. I won't be able to access the necessary sections of the shuttle."

  "Wonders of the universe, huh, guys?" remarked Keith.

  "I've never seen anything like that in Earth orbit, have you, Keith?" replied Davy.

  "Wouldn't want to." stated Keith.

  "It's interesting, but I sort of agree with Keith. It looks a little nasty. Maybe some of us should just stay on the sh
ip?" suggested Niklas.

  "Not a good idea." said Jahv. "We need parts. We need to replace the coil. And I don't think splitting up is a good idea. The interior of that space station is like a maze. It was built over a long period of time, by several races, none of whom paid much attention to what their predecessors did." He worked the controls and opened a commlink. "Space Station Garboris, this is Shuttle designate Alpha-Jahv, requesting permission to dock."

  Static blasted through the speaker, but then a rough, gravelly voice spoke, "Shuttle Alpha-Jahv, state your reason for docking."

  "Repairs." replied Jahv. "Hyperwarp stabilizer is out. We shouldn't be long."

  "Access granted." came the voice again. "Follow your beacon to docking pylon Zhrek-three."

  "Understood. Receiving beacon. Thank you. Alpha-Jahv out." Jahv turned off the commlink. "Zhrek-three. Wish I could remember this station better and where that puts us compared to where we need to go. I think I know a shortcut. Have to see when we get in."

  "I'm surprised they didn't ask why a kid was flying this thing." remarked Davy.

  Jahv snickered. "You think tone of voice means anything out here? They were probably glad I'm not a Pavarot. Not only do they have deep baritone voices from the day they're born, but their entire language sounds like opera."

  "Deep baritone from birth?!" exclaimed Keith. "That must make feeding time at hospital nurseries a load of laughs."

  Jahv maneuvered the shuttle to the indicated pylon, and docked. A hiss of air indicated the the airlock was operational. "Enabling security field." said Jahv, more to himself to remember proper procedures. "Powering down. Okay, we're set."

  "What will the security field do?" asked Morik.

  "Anybody tries to break into the shuttle, it'll hit 'em with a stun field." replied Jahv. "Okay, guys, let's go. But brace yourselves. Like I said, this isn't a very nice place."